This is the first unified treatment of the properties of thermodynamically open and closed systems. It provides the theory and methodology that are necessary to understand nonlinear processes. The section on Classical Systems covers topics ranging from the evolution of probability to open and closed systems and non-Hamiltonian systems. The concluding section on Quantum Systems is equally detailed, treating the evolution of quantum systems, c-number fluctuations and operator fluctuations.

The material covered is applicable to weather systems, ocean currents, dye lasers and many...

The authors describe mostly in non-technical language the development of a new scientific paradigm based on nonlinear deterministic dynamics and fractal geometry. The concepts from these two mathematical disciplines are interwoven with data from the physical, social and life sciences. In this way rather sophisticated mathematical concepts are made accessible through experimental data from various disciplines, and the formalism is relegated to appendices. It is shown that the complexity of natural and social phenomena invariably lead to inverse power law distributions, both in terms of...

MacMath is a scientific toolkit for the Macintosh computer consisting of twelve graphics programs. It supports mathematical computation and experimentation in dynamical systems, both for differential equations and for iteration. The MacMath package was designed to accompany the textbooks Differential Equations: A Dynamical Systems Approach Part I & II. The text and software was developed for a junior-senior level course in applicable mathematics at Cornell University, in order to take advantage of excellent and easily accessible graphics. MacMath addresses differential equations...