This volume explores the application of topological techniques in the study of delay and ordinary differential equations with a particular focus on continuum mechanics. Chapters, written by internationally recognized researchers in the field, present results on problems of existence, multiplicity localization, bifurcation of solutions, and more. Topological methods are used throughout, including degree theory, fixed point index theory, and classical and recent fixed point theorems. A wide variety of applications to continuum mechanics are provided as well, such as chemostats, non-Newtonian fluid flow, and flows in phase space. Topological Methods for Delay and Ordinary Differential Equations will be a valuable resource for researchers interested in differential equations, functional analysis, topology, and the applied sciences.

The volume contains the texts of four courses, given by the authors at a summer school that sought to present the state of the art in the growing field of topological methods in the theory of o.d.e. (in finite and infinitedimension), and to provide a forum for discussion of the wide variety of mathematical tools which are involved. The topics covered range from the extensions of the Lefschetz fixed point and the fixed point index on ANR's, to the theory of parity of one-parameter families of Fredholm operators, and from the theory of coincidence degree for mappings on Banach spaces to homotopy methods for continuation principles. CONTENTS: P. Fitzpatrick: The parity as an invariant for detecting bifurcation of the zeroes of one parameter families of nonlinear Fredholm maps.- M. Martelli: Continuation principles and boundary value problems.- J. Mawhin: Topological degree and boundary value problems for nonlinear differential equations.- R.D. Nussbaum: The fixed point index and fixed point theorems.

The papers collected in this volume are contributions to the 33rd session of the Seminaire de Mathematiques Superieures (SMS) on "Topological Methods in Differential Equations and Inclusions". This session of the SMS took place at the Universite de Montreal in July 1994 and was a NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI). The aim of the ASI was to bring together a considerable group of young researchers from various parts of the world and to present to them coherent surveys of some of the most recent advances in this area of Nonlinear Analysis. During the meeting 89 mathematicians from 20 countries have had the opportunity to get acquainted with various aspects of the subjects treated in the lectures as well as the chance to exchange ideas and learn about new problems arising in the field. The main topics teated in this ASI were the following: Fixed point theory for single- and multi-valued mappings including topological degree and its generalizations, and topological transversality theory; existence and multiplicity results for ordinary differential equations and inclusions; bifurcation and stability problems; ordinary differential equations in Banach spaces; second order differential equations on manifolds; the topological structure of the solution set of differential inclusions; effects of delay perturbations on dynamics of retarded delay differential equations; dynamics of reaction diffusion equations; non smooth critical point theory and applications to boundary value problems for quasilinear elliptic equations.

Topological Methods for Differential Equations and Inclusions covers the important topics involving topological methods in the theory of systems of differential equations. The equivalence between a control system and the corresponding differential inclusion is the central idea used to prove existence theorems in optimal control theory. Since the dynamics of economic, social, and biological systems are multi-valued, differential inclusions serve as natural models in macro systems with hysteresis.

Time delays are important components of many systems in, for instance, engineering, physics, economics, and the life sciences, because the transfer of material, energy, and information is usually not instantaneous. Time delays may appear as computation and communication lags, they model transport phenomena and heredity, and they arise as feedback delays in control loops. This monograph addresses the problem of stability analysis, stabilization, and robust fixed-order control of dynamical systems subject to delays, including both retarded- and neutral-type systems. Within the eigenvalue-based framework, an overall solution is given to the stability analysis, stabilization, and robust control design problem, using both analytical methods and numerical algorithms and applicable to a broad class of linear time-delay systems. In this revised edition, the authors make the leap from stabilization to the design of robust and optimal controllers and from retarded-type to neutral-type delay systems, thus enlarging the scope of the book within control; include new, state-of-the-art material on numerical methods and algorithms to broaden the book?s focus and to reach additional research communities, in particular numerical linear algebra and numerical optimization; and increase the number and range of applications to better illustrate the effectiveness and generality of their approach.

​This collection covers a wide range of topics of infinite dimensional dynamical systems generated by parabolic partial differential equations, hyperbolic partial differential equations, solitary equations, lattice differential equations, delay differential equations, and stochastic differential equations. Infinite dimensional dynamical systems are generated by evolutionary equations describing the evolutions in time of systems whose status must be depicted in infinite dimensional phase spaces. Studying the long-term behaviors of such systems is important in our understanding of their spatiotemporal pattern formation and global continuation, and has been among major sources of motivation and applications of new developments of nonlinear analysis and other mathematical theories. Theories of the infinite dimensional dynamical systems have also found more and more important applications in physical, chemical, and life sciences. This book collects 19 papers from 48 invited lecturers to the International Conference on Infinite Dimensional Dynamical Systems held at York University, Toronto, in September of 2008. As the conference was dedicated to Professor George Sell from University of Minnesota on the occasion of his 70th birthday, this collection reflects the pioneering work and influence of Professor Sell in a few core areas of dynamical systems, including non-autonomous dynamical systems, skew-product flows, invariant manifolds theory, infinite dimensional dynamical systems, approximation dynamics, and fluid flows.​

This contributed volume provides an up-to-date overview of the mechanics of granular materials, ranging from sparse media to soils. With chapters exploring state-of-the-art theoretical, experimental, and applied trends in the study of granular matter in various states, readers will be motivated to learn about the current challenges and potential avenues of exploration in this active area of research. Including a variety of perspectives, this volume will be a valuable reference for audiences in a number of fields. Specific topics covered include: X-ray tomography techniques for analyzing sand Evaluation of effective stress in unsaturated soils Hyper-plasticity Wave propagation in granular systems Partly saturated porous media Multi-scale approaches to the dynamics of sparse media Views on Microstructures in Granular Materials is an ideal resource for PhD students and researchers in applied mathematics, solid-state physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering.