Edited by: Kenneth R. Davidson, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada, Dumitru Gaspar, West University of Timisoara, Romania, Serban Stratila, Institute of Mathematics, Bucharest, Romania, Dan Timotin, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania, and Florian-Horia Vasilescu, University of Lille I, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

Operator Theory 20: Timisoara, June 30-July 5, 2004

A publication of the Theta Foundation.
2006; 274 pp; hardcover
ISBN-10: 973-85432-9-0
ISBN-13: 978-973-85432-9-4

The volume represents the proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Operator Theory, held in Timisoara (Romania), between June 30 and July 5, 2004. Besides a presentation of the life and works of G. K. Pedersen, it contains twenty-one refereed research papers written by leading experts in the field and by young researchers. These cover a large variety of topics of interest, including:

single operator algebras
C* algebras
von Neumann algebras
Hilbert and Banach modules
differential and integral operators
noncommutative probability
spectral theory.
A publication of the Theta Foundation. Distributed worldwide, except in Romania, by the AMS.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in analysis.

Table of Contents

D. Olesen and E. Stormer -- The life and works of Gert Kjargaard Pedersen
H. Bercovici -- On Boolean convolutions
A. M. Bikchentaev -- Representation of elements of von Neumann algebras in the form of finite sums of products of projections. II
E. Boasso -- On Cartan joint spectra
J. Bracic -- Reflexivity of the space of module homomorphisms
M. R. Buneci -- C^ast-algebras associated to groupoids with proper orbit space
G. Cassier and N. Suciu -- Analytic functions of a uniformly stable p-contraction
R. Dumitru, C. Peligrad, and B. Visinescu -- Automorphisms inner in the local multiplier algebra and Connes spectrum
D. E. Dutkay and G. Picioroaga -- The von Neumann algebra of the canonical equivalence relation of the generalized Thompson group
S. H. Ferguson and R. Rochberg -- Description of certain quotient Hilbert modules
A. Gomilko, I. Wrobel, and J. Zemanek -- Numerical ranges in a strip
A. Khosravi and B. Khosravi -- Frames in tensor products of Hilbert C^ast-modules
A. S. Kostenko -- Spectral analysis of some indefinite Sturm-Liouville operators
V. G. Kravchenko, A. B. Lebre, and J. S. Rodriguez -- The kernel of singular integral operators with a finite group of linear-fractional shifts
R. Nicoara -- On the finiteness of the number of N-dimensional Hopf C^ast-algebras
M. Popa -- A non-commutative analogue of Gaussian Hilbert spaces
D. Popovici -- Dilatable solutions for some operator moment problems
F. Radulescu -- Combinatorial aspects of Connes's embedding conjecture and asymptotic distribution of traces of products of unitaries
A. Sandovici -- Canonical extensions of symmetric linear relations
L. Suciu -- Ergodic properties and saturation for A-contractions
N. Suciu -- On the generalized Harnack domination for contractions
L. Zielinski -- Semiclassical distributions of eigenvalues for elliptic operators with Holder continuous coefficients, part II: critical case

Edited by: Wayne Nagata, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, and N. Sri Namachchivaya, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Bifurcation Theory and Spatio-Temporal Pattern Formation

Fields Institute Communications, Volume: 49
2006; 177 pp; hardcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-3725-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-3725-2

Nonlinear dynamical systems and the formation of spatio-temporal patterns play an important role in current research on partial differential equations. This book contains articles on topics of current interest in applications of dynamical systems theory to problems of pattern formation in space and time. Topics covered include aspects of lattice dynamical systems, convection in fluid layers with large aspect ratios, mixed mode oscillations and canards, bacterial remediation of waste, gyroscopic systems, data clustering, and the second part of Hilbert's 16th problem. Most of the book consists of expository survey material, and so can serve as a source of convenient entry points to current research topics in nonlinear dynamics and pattern formation. This volume arose from a workshop held at the Fields Institute in December of 2003, honoring Professor William F. Langford's fundamental work on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday.

Titles in this series are copublished with the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in nonlinear dynamics and its applications to pattern formation.

Table of Contents


Anna Campbell Bliss, Bliss Studio Publications, Salt Lake City, UT

Art for a House of Mathematics

A publication of Bliss Studio Publications.
2006; 53 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-9754915-1-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-9754915-1-5

Based on the 2001 expansion of the Cowles Mathematics Building on the University of Utah campus, this book is a catalog and commentary of that project. The book, like the mural it describes, develops structural connections with the arts, sciences, and culture while conveying the range and beauty of mathematics.

Anna Campbell Bliss holds a master's degree in architecture from Harvard University and was a student of Gyorgy Kepes at MIT. A sucessful Utah based artist, her work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Utah Museum of Fine Art.

A publication of Bliss Studio Publications. Distributed non-exclusively worldwide by the American Mathematical Society.

Readership

General mathematical audience


Edited by: Nigel Higson and John Roe, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Surveys in Noncommutative Geometry

Clay Mathematics Proceedings, Volume: 6
2006; 189 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-3846-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-3846-4

In June 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute organized an Instructional Symposium on Noncommutative Geometry in conjunction with the AMS-IMS-SIAM Joint Summer Research Conference. These events were held at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts from June 18 to 29, 2000. The Instructional Symposium consisted of several series of expository lectures which were intended to introduce key topics in noncommutative geometry to mathematicians unfamiliar with the subject. Those expository lectures have been edited and are reproduced in this volume.

The lectures of Rosenberg and Weinberger discuss various applications of noncommutative geometry to problems in "ordinary" geometry and topology. The lectures of Lagarias and Tretkoff discuss the Riemann hypothesis and the possible application of the methods of noncommutative geometry in number theory. Higson gives an account of the "residue index theorem" of Connes and Moscovici.

Noncommutative geometry is to an unusual extent the creation of a single mathematician, Alain Connes. The present volume gives an extended introduction to several aspects of Connes' work in this fascinating area.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in noncommutative geometry.

Table of Contents

J. Rosenberg -- A minicourse on applications of non-commutative geometry to topology
S. S. Chang and S. Weinberger -- On Novikov-type conjectures
N. Higson -- The residue index theorem of Connes and Moscovici
J. C. Lagarias -- The Riemann hypothesis: Arithmetic and geometry
P. Tretkoff -- Noncommutative geometry and number theory

Oliver Buhler, New York University, Courant Institute, NY

A Brief Introduction to Classical, Statistical, and Quantum Mechanics

Courant Lecture Notes, Volume: 13
2006; 153 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-4232-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-4232-4

This book provides a rapid overview of the basic methods and concepts in mechanics for beginning Ph.D. students and advanced undergraduates in applied mathematics or related fields. It is based on a graduate course given in 2006-07 at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Among other topics, the book introduces Newton's law, action principles, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, geometric wave theory, analytical and numerical statistical mechanics, discrete and continuous quantum mechanics, and quantum path-integral methods.

The focus is on fundamental mathematical methods that provide connections between seemingly unrelated subjects. An example is Hamilton-Jacobi theory, which appears in the calculus of variations, in Fermat's principle of classical mechanics, and in the geometric theory of dispersive wavetrains. The material is developed in a sequence of simple examples and the book can be used in a one-semester class on classical, statistical, and quantum mechanics. Some familiarity with differential equations is required but otherwise the book is self-contained. In particular, no previous knowledge of physics is assumed.

Readership

Advanced undergraduates, graduate students and research mathematicians interested in mechanics, mathematical physics, and applied probability.

Table of Contents

Classical mechanics of discrete systems
Wave mechanics
Statistical mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Bibliography
Index

Edited by: Fernando Hitt, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, QC, Canada, Guershon Harel, University of California, San Diego, CA, and Shandy Hauk, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO

Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education. VI

CBMS Issues in Mathematics Education, Volume: 13
2006; 248 pp; softcover
ISBN-10: 0-8218-4243-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-4243-0

The sixth volume of Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education presents state-of-the-art research on understanding, teaching, and learning mathematics at the postsecondary level. The articles advance our understanding of collegiate mathematics education while being readable by a wide audience of mathematicians interested in issues affecting their own students. This is a collection of useful and informative research regarding the ways our students think about and learn mathematics.

The volume opens with studies on students' experiences with calculus reform and on the effects of concept-based calculus instruction. The next study uses technology and the van Hiele framework to help students construct concept images of sequential convergence. The volume continues with studies on developing and assessing specific competencies in real analysis, on introductory complex analysis, and on using geometry in teaching and learning linear algebra. It closes with a study on the processes used in proof construction and another on the transition to graduate studies in mathematics.

Whether they are specialists in education or mathematicians interested in finding out about the field, readers will obtain new insights about teaching and learning and will take away ideas that they can use.

Readership

Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in mathematics education issues.

Table of Contents

J. R. Star and J. P. Smith III -- An image of calculus reform: Students' experiences of Harvard calculus
K. K. Chappell -- Effects of concept-based instruction on calculus students' acquisition of conceptual understanding and procedural skill
M. A. Navarro and P. P. Carreras -- Constructing a concept image of convergence of sequences in the van Hiele framework
N. Gronbak and C. Winslow -- Developing and assessing specific competencies in a first course on real analysis
P. Danenhower -- Introductory complex analysis at two British Columbia universities: The first week-complex numbers
G. Gueudet-Chartier -- Using geometry to teach and learn linear algebra
K. Weber -- Investigating and teaching the processes used to construct proofs
J. Duffin and A. Simpson -- The transition to independent graduate studies in mathematics