Generalized Functions

This second edition of Generalized Functions has been strengthened in many ways. The already extensive set of examples has been expanded. Since the publication of the first edition, there has been tremendous growth in the subject and I have attempted to incorporate some of these new concepts. Accordingly, almost all the chapters have been revised. The bibliography has been enlarged considerably. Some of the material has been reorganized. For example, Chapters 12 and 13 of the first edition have been consolidated into Chapter 12 of this edition by a judicious process of elimination and addition of the subject matter. The new Chapter 13 explains the interplay between the theories of moments, asymptotics, and singular perturbations. Similarly, some sections of Chapter 15 have been revised and included in earlier chapters to improve the logical flow of ideas. However, two sections are retained. The section dealing with the application of the probability theory has been revised, and I am thankful to Professor Z.L. Crvenkovic for her help. The new material included in this chapter pertains to the modern topics of periodic distributions and microlocal theory. I have demonstrated through various examples that familiarity with the generalized functions is very helpful for students in physical sciences and technology. For instance, the reader will realize from Chapter 6 how the generalized functions have revolutionized the Fourier analysis which is being used extensively in many fields of scientific activity.

Approach your problems from the right end It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is and begin with the answers. Then one day, that they can't see the problem. perhaps you will find the final question. The Scandal of Father G. K. Chesterton. 'The Hermit Clad in Crane Feathers' in R. Brown 'The point of a Pin'. van Gulik's The Chinese Maze Murders. Growing specialization and diversification have brought a host of monographs and textbooks on increasingly specialized topics. However, the "tree" of knowledge of mathematics and related fields does not grow only by putting forth new branches. It also happens, quite often in fact, that branches which were thought to be completely disparate are suddenly seen to be related. Further, the kind and level of sophistication of mathematics applied in various sciences has changed drastically in recent years: measure theory is used (non trivially) in regional and theoretical economics; algebraic geometry interacts with physics; the Minkowsky lemma, coding theory and the structure of water meet one another in packing and covering theory; quantum fields, crystal defects and mathematical programming profit from homotopy theory; Lie algebras are relevant to filtering; and prediction and electrical engineering can use Stein spaces. And in addition to this there are such new emerging subdisciplines as "experimental mathematics", "CFD", "completely integrable systems", "chaos, synergetics and large-scale order", which are almost impossible to fit into the existing classification schemes. They draw upon widely different sections of mathematics.

This volume presents the general theory of generalized functions, including the Fourier, Laplace, Mellin, Hilbert, Cauchy-Bochner and Poisson integral transforms and operational calculus, with the traditional material augmented by the theory of Fourier series, abelian theorems, and boundary values of helomorphic functions for one and several variables. The author addresses several facets in depth, including convolution theory, convolution algebras and convolution equations in them, homogenous generalized functions, and multiplication of generalized functions. This book will meet the needs of researchers, engineers, and students of applied mathematics, control theory, and the engineering sciences.

This work provides the first comprehensive introduction to the nonlinear theory of generalized functions (in the sense of Colombeau's construction) on differentiable manifolds. Particular emphasis is laid on a diffeomorphism invariant geometric approach to embedding the space of Schwartz distributions into algebras of generalized functions. The foundations of a `nonlinear distributional geometry' are developed, supplying a solid base for an increasing number of applications of algebras of generalized functions to questions of a primarily geometric mature, in particular in mathematical physics. Applications of the resulting theory to symmetry group analysis of differential equations and the theory of general relativity are presented in separate chapters. These features distinguish the present volume from earlier introductory texts and monographs on the subject. Audience: The book will be of interest to graduate students as well as to researchers in functional analysis, partial differential equations, differential geometry, and mathematical physics.

The author's previous book `New Generalized Functions and Multiplication of Distributions' (North-Holland, 1984) introduced `new generalized functions' in order to explain heuristic computations of Physics and to give a meaning to any finite product of distributions. The aim here is to present these functions in a more direct and elementary way. In Part I, the reader is assumed to be familiar only with the concepts of open and compact subsets of R&eegr;, of C∞ functions of several real variables and with some rudiments of integration theory. Part II defines tempered generalized functions, i.e. generalized functions which are, in some sense, increasing at infinity no faster than a polynomial (as well as all their partial derivatives). Part III shows that, in this setting, the partial differential equations have new solutions. The results obtained show that this setting is perfectly adapted to the study of nonlinear partial differential equations, and indicate some new perspectives in this field.

English translation (from revised and enlarged versions of the Russian editions of 1977 and 1984) of a reference work which makes available to engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians theoretical and tabular material pertaining to certain extensions of standard integral transform techniques. Diverse transforms are touched upon, but the emphasis (particularly in the tables) is on generalized Fourier and Laplace transforms. Some multi-dimensional results are presented. Expensive, but nicely produced, and redundant with nothing standard to the reference shelves of mathematical libraries. (NW) Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Questions regarding the interplay of nonlinearity and the creation and propagation of singularities arise in a variety of fields-including nonlinear partial differential equations, noise-driven stochastic partial differential equations, general relativity, and geometry with singularities. A workshop held at the Erwin-Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics in Vienna investigated these questions and culminated in this volume of invited papers from experts in the fields of nonlinear partial differential equations, structure theory of generalized functions, geometry and general relativity, stochastic partial differential equations, and nonstandard analysis. The authors provide the latest research relevant to work in partial differential equations, mathematical physics, and nonlinear analysis. With a focus on applications, this books provides a compilation of recent approaches to the problem of singularities in nonlinear models. The theory of differential algebras of generalized functions serves as the central theme of the project, along with its interrelations with classical methods.

This book provides a simple introduction to a nonlinear theory of generalized functions introduced by J.F. Colombeau, which gives a meaning to any multiplication of distributions. This theory extends from pure mathematics (it presents a faithful generalization of the classical theory of C? functions and provides a synthesis of most existing multiplications of distributions) to physics (it permits the resolution of ambiguities that appear in products of distributions), passing through the theory of partial differential equations both from the theoretical viewpoint (it furnishes a concept of weak solution of pde's leading to existence-uniqueness results in many cases where no distributional solution exists) and the numerical viewpoint (it introduces new and efficient methods developed recently in elastoplasticity, hydrodynamics and acoustics). This text presents basic concepts and results which until now were only published in article form. It is in- tended for mathematicians but, since the theory and applications are not dissociated it may also be useful for physicists and engineers. The needed prerequisites for its reading are essentially reduced to the classical notions of differential calculus and the theory of integration over n-dimensional euclidean spaces.