Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2-6 October 2001

Nonlinearity, Bifurcation and Chaos - Theory and Application is an edited book focused on introducing both theoretical and application oriented approaches in science and engineering. It contains 12 chapters, and is recommended for university teachers, scientists, researchers, engineers, as well as graduate and post-graduate students either working or interested in the field of nonlinearity, bifurcation and chaos.

This is the first of two Euroconferences aimed at addressing the issues of Nonlinearity and Disorder. The 1995 Euroconference was devoted to the mathematical, numerical and experimental studies related to the Klein-Gordon and Schrödinger systems. The Euroconference was organized around main lectures in each area to introduce the main concepts and stimulate discussions. The mathematical studies covered the functional anlaysis and stochastic techniques applied to the general Klein-Gordon and Schrödinger wave equations. Also a panoramic view of the numerical schemes was presented to simulate the above equations, as well as an overview of the applications of such systems in the areas of condensed matter, optical physics, new materials and biophysics. Special attention was devoted to the discrete Schrödinger and Klein-Gordon systems and their applications.

This volume details some of the latest advances in spectral theory and nonlinear analysis through various cutting-edge theories on algebraic multiplicities, global bifurcation theory, non-linear Schrödinger equations, non-linear boundary value problems, large solutions, metasolutions, dynamical systems, and applications to spatial ecology.The main scope of the book is bringing together a series of topics that have evolved separately during the last decades around the common denominator of spectral theory and nonlinear analysis — from the most abstract developments up to the most concrete applications to population dynamics and socio-biology — in an effort to fill the existing gaps between these fields.

While many books have discussed methodological advances in nonlinear dynamical systems theory (NDS), this volume is unique in its focus on NDS's role in the development of psychological theory. After an introductory chapter covering the fundamentals of chaos, complexity and other nonlinear dynamics, subsequent chapters provide in-depth coverage of each of the specific topic areas in psychology. A concluding chapter takes stock of the field as a whole, evaluating important challenges for the immediate future. The chapters are written by experts in the use of NDS in each of their respective areas, including biological, cognitive, developmental, social, organizational and clinical psychology. Each chapter provides an in-depth examination of theoretical foundations and specific applications and a review of relevant methods. This edited collection represents the state of the art in NDS science across the disciplines of psychology.

This book deals with the investigation of global attractors of nonlinear dynamical systems. The exposition proceeds from the simplest attractor of a single equilibrium to more complicated ones, i.e. to finite, denumerable and continuum equilibria sets; and further, to cycles, homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits; and finally, to strange attractors consisting of irregular unstable trajectories. On the complicated equilibria sets, the methods of Lyapunov stability theory are transferred. They are combined with stability techniques specially elaborated for such sets. The results are formulated as frequency-domain criteria. The methods connected with the theorems of existence of cycles and homoclinic orbits are developed. The estimates of Hausdorff dimensions of attractors are presented.

The book comprises a broad panorama of phenomena occurring in four major classes of radiophysical and mechanical systems — linear, nonlinear, parametric, and nonlinear-parametric. An analytical technique for the broad circle of issues under consideration is developed. It is presented in a user-friendly form, allowing its further direct application in research practices.Analytical methods are presented for investigating modulation-parametric and nonlinear systems, oscillating systems with periodic and almost periodic time-dependent parameters, effects of adaptive self-organization in coupled resonance systems and oscillating systems under the action of external forces, nonlinear with respect to the coordinates of excited systems.Of an interdisciplinary nature, this volume can serve as a handbook for developing lecture courses such as Fundamentals of Nonlinear Dynamics and Theory of Nonlinear Oscillations, Theory of Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, Fundamentals of Radiophysics and Electronics, Theory of Signals and Theoretical Radiophysics, Theoretical Mechanics and Electrodynamics.

With many areas of science reaching across their boundaries and becoming more and more interdisciplinary, students and researchers in these fields are confronted with techniques and tools not covered by their particular education. Especially in the life- and neurosciences quantitative models based on nonlinear dynamics and complex systems are becoming as frequently implemented as traditional statistical analysis. Unfamiliarity with the terminology and rigorous mathematics may discourage many scientists to adopt these methods for their own work, even though such reluctance in most cases is not justified. This book bridges this gap by introducing the procedures and methods used for analyzing nonlinear dynamical systems. In Part I, the concepts of fixed points, phase space, stability and transitions, among others, are discussed in great detail and implemented on the basis of example elementary systems. Part II is devoted to specific, non-trivial applications: coordination of human limb movement (Haken-Kelso-Bunz model), self-organization and pattern formation in complex systems (Synergetics), and models of dynamical properties of neurons (Hodgkin-Huxley, Fitzhugh-Nagumo and Hindmarsh-Rose). Part III may serve as a refresher and companion of some mathematical basics that have been forgotten or were not covered in basic math courses. Finally, the appendix contains an explicit derivation and basic numerical methods together with some programming examples as well as solutions to the exercises provided at the end of certain chapters. Throughout this book all derivations are as detailed and explicit as possible, and everybody with some knowledge of calculus should be able to extract meaningful guidance follow and apply the methods of nonlinear dynamics to their own work. “This book is a masterful treatment, one might even say a gift, to the interdisciplinary scientist of the future.” “With the authoritative voice of a genuine practitioner, Fuchs is a master teacher of how to handle complex dynamical systems.” “What I find beautiful in this book is its clarity, the clear definition of terms, every step explained simply and systematically.” (J.A.Scott Kelso, excerpts from the foreword)

This book addresses the issues of nonlinearity and disorder. It covers mathematical and numerical techniques as well as applications of nonlinearity and disorder. The analysis of continuous and discrete systems is also shown.

Additional Resource Materials Human behavior would not be interesting to us if it remained the same from one moment to the next. Moreover, we tend to be sensitive to changes in people's behavior, especially when such change impacts on our own, and other's, behavior. This book describes a variety of techniques for investigating change in behavior. It employs conventional time series methods, as well as recently developed methodology using nonlinear dynamics, including chaos, a term that is not easy to define, nor to confirm. Although nonlinear methods are being used more frequently in psychology, a comprehensive coverage of methods, theory and applications, with a particular focus on human behavior, is needed. Between these covers, the reader is led through various procedures for linear and nonlinear time series analysis, including some novel procedures that allow subtle temporal aspects of human cognition to be detected. Analyses of reaction times, heart-rate, psychomotor skill, decision making, and EEG are supplemented by a contemporary review of recent dynamical research in developmental psychology, psychopathology, and human cognitive processes. A consideration of nonlinear dynamics assists our understanding of deep issues such as: Why is our short-term memory capacity limited? Why do chronic disorders, and also cognitive development, progress through stage-like transitions? Why do people make irrational decisions? This book will be of particular interest to researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in a variety of areas in psychology, particularly in human experimental and physiological psychology. Data analyses are performed using the latest nonlinear dynamics computer packages. A comprehensive WWW resource of software and supplementary information is provided to assist the reader's understanding of the novel, and potentially revolutionary, procedures described in the book.