This text deals with a series of topics on the cutting edge of nonlinear science, striking a balance between theory and experiment. It consists of two introductory presentations on dynamical systems and fluid dynamics and six chapters on advanced research. A nontrivial interrelation between the different topics becomes apparent throughout the book as an indication of the underlying unity and genericity of nonlinear phenomena. There is a continuous emphasis on conceptual issues often introduced via concrete examples. A common feature is that most of the systems under study are extended,...

Among the several distinct ways of formulating and quantizing a Hamiltonian system, the light cone approach enjoys special status because it has the largest stability group. The aim of this volume is to present recent achievements and open problems in this rather unusual quantization framework to a large audience. The formulation is set up in a comprehensive introduction where the issues are also clearly indicated with specific examples: vacuum structure, signature of non-perturbative effects, chiral symmetry breaking, light cone gauge theories, etc. The following chapters address these...