Search results for "J. David Logan"

Explore the latest concepts and applications in mathematical methods and modeling

The Third Edition of this critically acclaimed text is thoroughly updated and revised with new concepts and applications to assist readers in modeling and analyzing natural, social, and technological processes. Readers are introduced to key ideas in math-ematical methods and modeling, with an emphasis on the connections between mathematics and the applied and natural sciences. The book covers the gamut of both standard and modern topics, including scaling and dimensional analysis; regular and singular perturbation; calculus of variations; Green's functions and integral equations; nonlinear wave propagation; and stability and bifurcation.

Readers will discover many special features in this new and revised edition, such as:
* A new chapter on discrete-time models, including a section devoted to stochastic models
* A thorough revision of the text's 300 exercises, incorporating contemporary problemsand methods
* Additional material and applications of linear transformations in Rn (matrices, eigenvalues, etc.) to compare to the integral equation results
* New material on mathematical biology, including age-structured models, diffusion and advection, and biological modeling, including MATLAB programs

Moreover, the text has been restructured to facilitate its use as a textbook. The first section covers models leading to ordinary differential equations and integral equations, and the second section focuses on partial differential equations and their applications. Exercises vary from routine calculations that reinforce basic techniques to challenging problems that stimulate advanced problem solving.

With its new exercises and structure, this book is highly recommended for upper-undergraduateand beginning graduate students in mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences. Scientists and engineers will find the book to be an excellent choice for reference and self-study.

While the standard sophomore course on elementary differential equations is typically one semester in length, most of the texts currently being used for these courses have evolved into calculus-like presentations that include a large collection of methods and applications, packaged with state-of-the-art color graphics, student solution manuals, the latest fonts, marginal notes, and web-based supplements. All of this adds up to several hundred pages of text and can be very expensive. Many students do not have the time or desire to read voluminous texts and explore internet supplements. Thats what makes the format of this differential equations book unique. It is a one-semester, brief treatment of the basic ideas, models, and solution methods. Its limited coverage places it somewhere between an outline and a detailed textbook. The author writes concisely, to the point, and in plain language. Many worked examples and exercises are included. A student who works through this primer will have the tools to go to the next level in applying ODEs to problems in engineering, science, and applied mathematics. It will also give instructors, who want more concise coverage, an alternative to existing texts. This text also encourages students to use a computer algebra system to solve problems numerically. It can be stated with certainty that the numerical solution of differential equations is a central activity in science and engineering, and it is absolutely necessary to teach students scientific computation as early as possible. Templates of MATLAB programs that solve differential equations are given in an appendix. Maple and Mathematica commands are given as well. The author taught this material on several ocassions to students who have had a standard three-semester calculus sequence. It has been well received by many students who appreciated having a small, definitive parcel of material to learn. Moreover, this text gives students the opportunity to start reading mathematics at a slightly higher level than experienced in pre-calculus and calculus; not every small detail is included. Therefore the book can be a bridge in their progress to study more advanced material at the junior-senior level, where books leave a lot to the reader and are not packaged with elementary formats. J. David Logan is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He is the author of another recent undergraduate textbook, Applied Partial Differential Equations, 2nd Edition (Springer 2004).

Praise for the First Edition:

"This book is well conceived and well written. The author has succeeded in producing a text on nonlinear PDEs that is not only quite readable but also accessible to students from diverse backgrounds."
â€"SIAM Review

A practical introduction to nonlinear PDEs and their real-world applications

Now in a Second Edition, this popular book on nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) contains expanded coverage on the central topics of applied mathematics in an elementary, highly readable format and is accessible to students and researchers in the field of pure and applied mathematics. This book provides a new focus on the increasing use of mathematical applications in the life sciences, while also addressing key topics such as linear PDEs, first-order nonlinear PDEs, classical and weak solutions, shocks, hyperbolic systems, nonlinear diffusion, and elliptic equations. Unlike comparable books that typically only use formal proofs and theory to demonstrate results, An Introduction to Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations, Second Edition takes a more practical approach to nonlinear PDEs by emphasizing how the results are used, why they are important, and how they are applied to real problems.

The intertwining relationship between mathematics and physical phenomena is discovered using detailed examples of applications across various areas such as biology, combustion, traffic flow, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, quantum mechanics, and the chemical reactor theory. New features of the Second Edition also include:

Additional intermediate-level exercises that facilitate the development of advanced problem-solving skills

New applications in the biological sciences, including age-structure, pattern formation, and the propagation of diseases

An expanded bibliography that facilitates further investigation into specialized topics

With individual, self-contained chapters and a broad scope of coverage that offers instructors the flexibility to design courses to meet specific objectives, An Introduction to Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations, Second Edition is an ideal text for applied mathematics courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable resource for researchers and professionals in the fields of mathematics, biology, engineering, and physics who would like to further their knowledge of PDEs.

This book develops the basic ideas of transport models in hydrogeology, including diffusion-dispersion processes, advection, and adsorption or reaction. While balancing the mathematical and physical concepts, it is written in a scientific pedagogical style that is accessible to graduate students and researchers in applied mathematics, the geosciences, civil engineering, and other environmental sciences. The book is organized into six chapters that focus on the diffusion equation, the transport of contaminants and other solutes through porous media, the existence of traveling wave fronts in such systems, filtration theory, the kinematics and dynamics of ground water transport, and the flow and reactions in permeable rocks. Analytic methods for both elementary linear and nonlinear partial differential equations are discussed in detail. Appendices develop numerical methods for partial differential equations, including the method of lines and finite difference methods! ! , and numerical methods for inverting Laplace transforms. Exercises are interspersed throughout the book and over one hundred and twenty references are cited. The book serves as an excellent text or supplementary reading in courses in applied mathematics, contaminant hydrology, ground water modeling, or hydrogeology.

A one-of-a-kind guide to using deterministic and probabilistic methods for solving problems in the biological sciences

Highlighting the growing relevance of quantitative techniques in scientific research, Mathematical Methods in Biology provides an accessible presentation of the broad range of important mathematical methods for solving problems in the biological sciences. The book reveals the growing connections between mathematics and biology through clear explanations and specific, interesting problems from areas such as population dynamics, foraging theory, and life history theory.

The authors begin with an introduction and review of mathematical tools that are employed in subsequent chapters, including biological modeling, calculus, differential equations, dimensionless variables, and descriptive statistics. The following chapters examine standard discrete and continuous models using matrix algebra as well as difference and differential equations. Finally, the book outlines probability, statistics, and stochastic methods as well as material on bootstrapping and stochastic differential equations, which is a unique approach that is not offered in other literature on the topic.

In order to demonstrate the application of mathematical methods to the biological sciences, the authors provide focused examples from the field of theoretical ecology, which serve as an accessible context for study while also demonstrating mathematical skills that are applicable to many other areas in the life sciences. The book's algorithms are illustrated using MATLAB®, but can also be replicated using other software packages, including R, Mathematica®, and Maple; however, the text does not require any single computer algebra package. Each chapter contains numerous exercises and problems that range in difficulty, from the basic to more challenging, to assist readers with building their problem-solving skills. Selected solutions are included at the back of the book, and a related Web site features supplemental material for further study.

Extensively class-tested to ensure an easy-to-follow format, Mathematical Methods in Biology is an excellent book for mathematics and biology courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for researchers and professionals working in the fields of biology, ecology, and biomathematics.