Horst R. Thieme

Mathematics in Population Biology

Paper | July 2003 | ISBN: 0-691-09291-5
Cloth | July 2003 | ISBN: 0-691-09290-7
392 pp. | 6 x 9 | 28 line illus.

The formulation, analysis, and re-evaluation of mathematical models in population biology has become a valuable source of insight to mathematicians and biologists alike. This book presents an overview and selected sample of these results and ideas, organized by biological theme rather than mathematical concept, with an emphasis on helping the reader develop appropriate modeling skills through use of well-chosen and varied examples.

Part I starts with unstructured single species population models, particularly in the framework of continuous time models, then adding the most rudimentary stage structure with variable stage duration. The theme of stage structure in an age-dependent context is developed in Part II, covering demographic concepts, such as life expectation and variance of life length, and their dynamic consequences. In Part III, the author considers the dynamic interplay of host and parasite populations, i.e., the epidemics and endemics of infectious diseases. The theme of stage structure continues here in the analysis of different stages of infection and of age-structure that is instrumental in optimizing vaccination strategies.

Each section concludes with exercises, some with solutions, and suggestions for further study. The level of mathematics is relatively modest; a "toolbox" provides a summary of required results in differential equations, integration, and integral equations. In addition, a selection of Maple worksheets is provided.

The book provides an authoritative tour through a dazzling ensemble of topics and is both an ideal introduction to the subject and reference for researchers.

Horst R. Thieme is Professor of Mathematics at Arizona State University. He is the editor of Differential Equations and Applications to Biology and to Industry and an editor of the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications.

Endorsement:

"This is an inspiring book, which is carefully written in rich language. What I like in particular is the systematic use of submodels for behavioral processes on short time scales to derive model ingredients for population changes on longer time scales."--Odo Diekmann, University of Utrecht

Series: Princeton Series in Theoretical and Computational Biology

Boris Buffoni and John Toland

Analytic Theory of Global Bifurcation

Cloth | February 2003 | ISBN: 0-691-11298-3
180 pp. | 6 x 9 | 5 line illus.

Rabinowitz's classical global bifurcation theory, which concerns the study in-the-large of parameter-dependent families of nonlinear equations, uses topological methods that address the problem of continuous parameter dependence of solutions by showing that there are connected sets of solutions of global extent. Even when the operators are infinitely differentiable in all the variables and parameters, connectedness here cannot in general be replaced by path-connectedness. However, in the context of real-analyticity there is an alternative theory of global bifurcation due to Dancer, which offers a much stronger notion of parameter dependence.

This book aims to develop from first principles Dancer's global bifurcation theory for one-parameter families of real-analytic operators in Banach spaces. It shows that there are globally defined continuous and locally real-analytic curves of solutions. In particular, in the real-analytic setting, local analysis can lead to global consequences--for example, as explained in detail here, those resulting from bifurcation from a simple eigenvalue. Included are accounts of analyticity and implicit function theorems in Banach spaces, classical results from the theory of finite-dimensional analytic varieties, and the links between these two and global existence theory.

Laying the foundations for more extensive studies of real-analyticity in infinite-dimensional problems and illustrating the theory with examples, Analytic Theory of Global Bifurcation is intended for graduate students and researchers in pure and applied analysis.

Boris Buffoni holds a Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship in Mathematics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Lausanne. John Toland is Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Bath and a Senior Research Fellow of the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Series: Princeton Series in Applied Mathematics

Harold W. Kuhn

Lectures on the Theory of Games

Paper | February 2003 | ISBN: 0-691-02772-2
Cloth | February 2003 | ISBN: 0-691-02771-4
120 pp. | 6 x 9 | 33 line illus.

This book is a spectacular introduction to the modern mathematical discipline known as the Theory of Games. Harold Kuhn first presented these lectures at Princeton University in 1952. They succinctly convey the essence of the theory, in part through the prism of the most exciting developments at its frontiers half a century ago. Kuhn devotes considerable space to topics that, while not strictly the subject matter of game theory, are firmly bound to it. These are taken mainly from the geometry of convex sets and the theory of probability distributions.

The book opens by addressing "matrix games," a name first introduced in these lectures as an abbreviation for two-person, zero-sum games in normal form with a finite number of pure strategies. It continues with a treatment of games in extensive form, using a model introduced by the author in 1950 that quickly supplanted von Neumann and Morgenstern's cumbersome approach. A final section deals with games that have an infinite number of pure strategies for the two players.

Throughout, the theory is generously illustrated with examples, and exercises test the reader's understanding. A historical note caps off each chapter. For readers familiar with the calculus and with elementary matrix theory or vector analysis, this book offers an indispensable store of vital insights on a subject whose importance has only grown with the years.

Harold W. Kuhn is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Princeton University. Joint winner of the 1980 von Neumann Prize in Theory, he is internationally known for co-authoring a paper that initiated the theory of "nonlinear programming." Kuhn is the editor or coeditor of several books (all Princeton), including The Essential John Nash, Classics in Game Theory, Linear Inequalities and Related Systems, and Contributions to the Theory of Games, I and II.

Series: Annals of Mathematics Studies

Elias M. Stein and Rami Shakarchi

Fourier Analysis:
An Introduction

Cloth | April 2003 |ISBN: 0-691-11384-X
320 pp. | 6 x 9 | 40 line illus.

This first volume, a three-part introduction to the subject, is intended for students with a beginning knowledge of mathematical analysis who are motivated to discover the ideas that shape Fourier analysis. It begins with the simple conviction that Fourier arrived at in the early nineteenth century when studying problems in the physical sciences--that an arbitrary function can be written as an infinite sum of the most basic trigonometric functions.

The first part implements this idea in terms of notions of convergence and summability of Fourier series, while highlighting applications such as the isoperimetric inequality and equidistribution. The second part deals with the Fourier transform and its applications to classical partial differential equations and the Radon transform; a clear introduction to the subject serves to avoid technical difficulties. The book closes with Fourier theory for finite abelian groups, which is applied to prime numbers in arithmetic progression.

In organizing their exposition, the authors have carefully balanced an emphasis on key conceptual insights against the need to provide the technical underpinnings of rigorous analysis. Students of mathematics, physics, engineering and other sciences will find the theory and applications covered in this volume to be of real interest.

The Princeton Lectures in Analysis represents a sustained effort to introduce the core areas of mathematical analysis while also illustrating the organic unity between them. Numerous examples and applications throughout its four planned volumes, of which Fourier Analysis is the first, highlight the far-reaching consequences of certain ideas in analysis to other fields of mathematics and a variety of sciences. Stein and Shakarchi move from an introduction addressing Fourier series and integrals to in-depth considerations of complex analysis; measure and integration theory, and Hilbert spaces; and, finally, further topics such as functional analysis, distributions and elements of probability theory.

Julian Havil
With a foreword by Freeman Dyson

Gamma:
Exploring Euler's Constant

Cloth | May 2003 |ISBN: 0-691-09983-9
376 pp. | 6 x 9 | 2 halftones. 87 line illus. 20 tables.

Among the myriad of constants that appear in mathematics, p, e, and i are the most familiar. Following closely behind is g, or gamma, a constant that arises in many mathematical areas yet maintains a profound sense of mystery.

In a tantalizing blend of history and mathematics, Julian Havil takes the reader on a journey through logarithms and the harmonic series, the two defining elements of gamma, toward the first account of gamma's place in mathematics.

Introduced by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), who figures prominently in this book, gamma is defined as the limit of the sum of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + . . . up to 1/n, minus the natural logarithm of n--the numerical value being 0.5772156. . .. But unlike its more celebrated colleagues p and e, the exact nature of gamma remains a mystery--we don't even know if gamma can be expressed as a fraction.

Among the numerous topics that arise during this historical odyssey into fundamental mathematical ideas are the Prime Number Theorem and the most important open problem in mathematics today--the Riemann Hypothesis (though no proof of either is offered!).

Sure to be popular with not only students and instructors but all math aficionados, Gamma takes us through countries, centuries, lives, and works, unfolding along the way the stories of some remarkable mathematics from some remarkable mathematicians.

Julian Havil is a Master at Winchester College, England, where he has taught mathematics for nearly thirty years. He received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Oxford University. Freeman Dyson is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He is the author of several books, including Disturbing the Universe and Origins of Life.

Endorsements:

"I like this book very much. So much, in fact, that I found myself muttering 'neat stuff!' all the way through. While it is about an important topic, there isn't a single competitor. This amazing oversight by past authors is presumably the result of the topic requiring an author with a pretty sophisticated mathematical personality. Havil clearly has that. His skillful weaving of mathematics and history makes the book a 'fun' read. Many instructors will surely find the book attractive."--Paul J. Nahin, author of Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers and An Imaginary Tale

"This is an excellent book, mathematically as well as historically. It represents a significant contribution to the literature on mathematics and its history at the upper undergraduate and graduate levels. Julian Havil injects genuine excitement into the topic."--Eli Maor, author of e: The Story of a Number