Non Linear Partial Differential Operators And Quantization Procedures

Starting in 1996, a sequence of articles appeared in the Journal of Nonlinear Science dedicated to the memory of one of its original editors, Juan-Carlos Simo, Applied Me chanics, Stanford University. Sadly, Juan-Carlos passed away at an early age in 1994. We lost a brilliant colleague and a wonderful person. These articles are collected in the present volume. Many of them are updated and corrected especially for this occasion. These essays are in areas of scientific interest of Juan-Carlos, including mechanics (particles, rigid bodies, fluids, elasticity, plastic ity, etc.), geometry, applied dynamics, and, of course, computation. His interests were extremely broad-he did not see boundaries between computation, mathematics, me chanics, and dynamics, and, in that sense, he ideally reflected the spirit of the journal and many of the most exciting areas of current scientific interest. Juan-Carlos was one of those select and gifted people who could cross interdisci plinary boundaries with extremely high quality and productive interactions of lasting value. His contributions, ranging from concrete engineering problems to fundamental mathematical theorems in geometric mechanics, are remarkable. In current conferences as well as in scientific books and articles, and over a wide range of subjects, one frequently hears how his ideas as well as specific results are often used and quoted-this is one indication of just how profound and fundamental his work has impacted the community.

This book describes the outstanding recent progress in this important and challenging field and presents general background for the scientific context and specifics regarding key difficulties. Quantization is developed in the context of rigorous nonlinear quantum field theory in four dimensions and in connection with symplectic manifold theory and random Schrödinger operators. Nonlinear wave equations are exposed in relation to recent important progress in general relativity, in purely mathematical terms of microlocal analysis, and as represented by progress on the relativistic Boltzmann equation. Most of the developments in this volume appear in book form for the first time. The resulting work is a concise and informative way to explore the field and the spectrum of methods available for its investigation.

This collection of papers in honour of Juan-Carlos Simo cover subjects including: dynamical problems for geometrically exact theories of nonlinearly viscoelastic rods; gravity waves on the surface of the sphere; and problems and progress in microswimming.