Nonlinear Dynamics From Lasers to Butterflies : Selected Lectures from the 15th Canberra International Physics Summer School, Australian National University, 21 January-1 February 2002

This book is an inspirational introduction to modern research directions and scholarship in nonlinear dynamics, and will also be a valuable reference for researchers in the field. With the scholarly level aimed at the beginning graduate student, the book will have broad appeal to those with an undergraduate background in mathematical or physical sciences.In addition to pedagogical and new material, each chapter reviews the current state of the area and discusses classic and open problems in engaging, surprisingly non-technical ways. The contributors are Brian Davies (bifurcations in maps), Nalini Joshi (integrable systems and asymptotics), Alan Newell (wave turbulence and pattern formation), Mark Ablowitz (nonlinear waves), Carl Weiss (spatial solitons), Cathy Holmes (Hamiltonian systems), Tony Roberts (dissipative fluid mechanics), Jorgen Frederiksen (two-dimensional turbulence), and Mike Lieberman (Fermi acceleration).