Tbis book is intended to provide a few asymptotic methods which can be applied to the dynamics of self-oscillating fields of the reaction-diffusion type and of some related systems. Such systems, forming cooperative fields of a large num- of interacting similar subunits, are considered as typical synergetic systems. ber Because each local subunit itself represents an active dynamical system function- ing only in far-from-equilibrium situations, the entire system is capable of showing a variety of curious pattern formations and turbulencelike behaviors quite unfamiliar in thermodynamic...

These proceedings contain the papers contributed to the International Work- shop on "Dimensions and Entropies in Chaotic Systems" at the Pecos River Conference Center on the Pecos River Ranch in Spetember 1985. The work- shop was held by the Center for Nonlinear Studies of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. At the Center for Nonlinear Studies the investigation of chaotic dynamics and especially the quantification of complex behavior has a long tradition. In spite of some remarkable successes, there are fundamental, as well as nu- merical, problems involved in the practical realization of...

These Proceedings contain invited lectures presented at the third Interna- tional Conference on "Irreversible Processes and Dissipative Structures" in Kiihlungsborn (German Democratic Republic) in March, 1985. These con- ferences, the first of which was held in Rostock in 1977 and the second in Berlin in 1982, are devoted to the study of irreversible processes far from thermal equilibrium and to the phenomena of selforganization. The meet- ing in Kiihlungsborn brought together some 160 mathematicians, physicists, chemists and biologists from 10 countries, who are all interested in the inter-...

Semiconductors can exhibit electrical instabilities like current runaway, threshold switching, current filamentation, or oscillations, when they are driven far from thermodynamic equilibrium. This book presents a coherent theoretical des- cription of such cooperative phenomena induced by generation and recombination processes of charge carriers in semicon- ductors.

by W. J. Freeman These two volumes on "Brain Oscillations" appear at a most opportune time. As the "Decade of the Brain" draws to its close, brain science is coming to terms with its ultimate problem: understanding the mechanisms by which the immense number of neurons in the human brain interact to produce the higher cognitive functions. The ideas, concepts, methods, interpretations and examples, which are presented here in voluminous detail by a world-class authority in electrophysiology, summarize the intellectual equipment that will be required to construct satisfactory solutions to the...

Macroscopic physics provides us with a great variety of pattern-forming systems displaying propagation phenomena, from reactive fronts in combustion, to wavy structures in convection and to shear flow instabilities in hydrodynamics. These proceedings record progress in this rapidly expanding field. The contributions have the following major themes: - The problems of velocity selection and front morphology of propagating interfaces in multiphase media, with emphasis on recent theoretical and experimental results on dendritic crystal growth, Saffman-Taylor fingering, directional solidification...

Rhythms are a basic phenomenon in all physiological systems. They cover an enormous range of frequencies with periods from the order of milliseconds up to some years. They are described by many disciplines and are investigated usually in the context of the physiology of the respective function or organ. The importance given to the research on rhythmicity is quite different in different systems. In some cases where the functional significance is obvious rhythms are at the center of interest, as in the case of respiration or locomotion. In other fields they are considered more or less as...

This book gives the first detailed coherent treatment of a relatively young branch of statistical physics - nonlinear nonequilibrium and fluctuation-dissipative thermo- dynamics. This area of research has taken shape fairly recently: its development began in 1959. The earlier theory -linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics - is in principle a simple special case of the new theory. Despite the fact that the title of this book includes the word "nonlinear," it also covers the results of linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics. The presentation of the linear and nonlinear theories is done within a...

Self-organization and clinical psychology signals the advent of a new paradigm in psychology. Physicists, neuroscientists and individual and grouptherapists have joined forces to elucidate the new and exciting advances that are being achieved by applying the concepts of non-linear dynamics and self-organization to the human nervous system and the mind.

It is increasingly being recognized that the experimental and theoretical study of the complex system brain requires the cooperation of many disciplines, in- cluding biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and others. In this way brain research has become a truly interdis- ciplinary endeavor. Indeed, the most important progress is quite often made when different disciplines cooperate. Thus it becomes necessary for scientists to look across the fence surrounding their disciplines. The present book is written precisely in this spirit. It addresses...