Linear and Nonlinear Waves

Now in an accessible paperback edition, this classic work is just as relevant as when it first appeared in 1974, due to the increased use of nonlinear waves. It covers the behavior of waves in two parts, with the first part addressing hyperbolic waves and the second addressing dispersive waves. The mathematical principles are presented along with examples of specific cases in communications and specific physical fields, including flood waves in rivers, waves in glaciers, traffic flow, sonic booms, blast waves, and ocean waves from storms.Der Klassiker zum Thema "Wellen" ist jetzt als Paperback erhältlich! Die beiden Teile des Buches sind hyperbolischen bzw. dispersiven Wellen gewidmet. Abwechselnd werden mathematisch-theoretische Aspekte und Spezialfälle sowie physikalische Anwendungen diskutiert. Dabei wurden die Beispiele aus vielen Bereichen der Wissenschaft und Technik gewählt, um ein möglichst breites Publikum anzusprechen. (11/99)
Introduction and General Outline.

HYPERBOLIC WAVES.

Waves and First Order Equations.

Specific Problems.

Burger's Equation.

Hyperbolic Systems.

Gas Dynamics.

The Wave Equation.

Shock Dynamics.

The Propagation of Weak Shocks.

Wave Hierarchies.

DISPERSIVE WAVES.

Linear Dispersive Waves.

Wave Patterns.

Water Waves.

Nonlinear Dispersion and the Variational Method.

Group Velocities, Instability, and Higher Order Dispersion.

Applications of the Nonlinear Theory.

Exact Solutions: Interacting Solitary Waves.

References.

Index.

The re-issue of this excellent book on linear and nonlinear waves in paperback form is to be welcomed. (Zentralblatt Math, Volume 940, No 15, 2000)

Gerald Beresford Whitham was a British-born American applied mathematician and the Charles Lee Powell Professor of Applied Mathematics of Applied & Computational Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology.