Questions that arose from linear programming and combinatorial optimization have been a driving force for modern polytope theory, such as the diameter questions motivated by the desire to understand the complexity of the simplex algorithm, or the need to study facets for use in cutting plane procedures. In addition, algorithms now provide the means to computationally study polytopes, to compute their parameters such as flag vectors, graphs and volumes, and to construct examples of large complexity. The papers of this volume thus display a wide panorama of connections of polytope theory with...

R. S. PHILLIPS I am very gratified to have been asked to give this introductory talk for our honoured guest, Israel Gohberg. I should like to begin by spending a few minutes talking shop. One of the great tragedies of being a mathematician is that your papers are read so seldom. On the average ten people will read the introduction to a paper and perhaps two of these will actually study the paper. It's difficult to know how to deal with this problem. One strategy which will at least get you one more reader, is to collaborate with someone. I think Israel early on caught on to this, and I...

This is an introductory text, in two parts, on scaling limits and modelling in equations of mathematical physics. The first part is concerned with basic concepts of the kinetic theory of gases which is not only important in its own right but also as a prototype of a mathematical construct central to the theory of non-equilibrium phenomena in large systems. It also features a very readable historic survey of the field. The second part dwells on the role of integrable systems for modelling weakly nonlinear equations which contain the effects of both dispersion and nonlinearity. Starting with a...

Our DMV Seminar on 'Classical Nonintegrability, Quantum Chaos' intended to introduce students and beginning researchers to the techniques applied in nonin tegrable classical and quantum dynamics. Several of these lectures are collected in this volume. The basic phenomenon of nonlinear dynamics is mixing in phase space, lead ing to a positive dynamical entropy and a loss of information about the initial state. The nonlinear motion in phase space gives rise to a linear action on phase space functions which in the case of iterated maps is given by a so-called transfer operator. Good mixing rates...

Computational algebraic number theory has been attracting broad interest in the last few years due to its potential applications in coding theory and cryptography. For this reason, the Deutsche Mathematiker Vereinigung initiated an introductory graduate seminar on this topic in Dusseldorf. The lectures given there by the author served as the basis for this book which allows fast access to the state of the art in this area. Special emphasis has been placed on practical algorithms - all developed in the last five years - for the computation of integral bases, the unit group and the class group...

One of the key concerns in modern control theory is the design of steering strategies. The implementation of such strategies is done by a regulator. Presented here is a self-contained introduction to the mathematical background of this type of regulator design. The topics selected address the matter of greatest interest to the control community, at present, namely, when the design objective is the reduction of the influence of exogeneous disturbances upon the output of the system. In a first scenario the disturbance signal is regarded as a deterministic time series with known dynamics but...

In keeping with the general aim of the "D.M.V.-Seminar" series, this book is princi pally a report on a group of lectures held at Blaubeuren by Professors H. J. Baues, S. Halperin and J.-M. Lemaire, from October 30 to November 7, 1988. These lec tures were devoted to providing an introduction to the theory of models in algebraic homotopy. The three lecturers acted in concert to produce a coherent exposition of the theory. Commencing from a common starting point, each of them then proceeded naturally to his own subject of research. The reader who is already familiar with their scientific work...

The main topics discussed at the D. M. V. Seminar were the connectedness theorems of Fulton and Hansen, linear normality and subvarieties of small codimension in projective spaces. They are closely related; thus the connectedness theorem can be used to prove the inequality-part of Hartshorne's conjecture on linear normality, whereas Deligne's generalisation of the connectedness theorem leads to a refinement of Barth's results on the topology of varieties with small codimension in a projective space. The material concerning the connectedness theorem itself (including the highly surprising...

The fates of important mathematical ideas are varied. Sometimes they are instantly appreciated by the specialists and constitute the foundation of the development of theories or methods. It also happens, however, that even ideas uttered by distinguished mathematicians are surrounded with respectful indifference for a long time, and every effort of inter- preters and successors has to be made in order to gain for them the merit deserved. It is the second case that is encountered in the present book, the author of which, the Leningrad mathematician E.M. Polishchuk, reconstructs and develops one...