Nonlinear Phenomena in Physics

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-IX

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2. Mathematical Methods and General

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Dynamics for Golden Mean Rotation

      • Mitchell J. Feigenbaum

      Pages 2-15

   3. Nonlinear Phenomena in Dissipative Systems

      • Pierre Coullet

      Pages 16-69

   4. Statistical Mechanics of the sine-Gordon Field: Part I

      • R. K. Bullough

      Pages 70-102

   5. Statistical Mechanics of the sine-Gorden Field: Part II

      • R. K. Bullough, D. J. Pilling, J. Timonen

      Pages 103-128

   6. Probabilistic Cellular Automata

      • B. A. Huberman

      Pages 129-137

3. Quantum Optics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Chaos, Generalized Multistability and Low Frequency Spectra in Quantum Optics

      • F. T. Arecchi

      Pages 140-161

   3. From Optical Bistability to Chaos

      • H. M. Nussenzveig

      Pages 162-225

4. Fluids

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 227-227

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   2. Recent Developments in Rayleigh-Benard Convection and Interface Dynamics

      • A. Libchaber

      Pages 228-236

5. Astrophysics and General Relativity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 237-237

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   2. Nonlinear Problems in Stellar Dynamics

      • G. Contopoulos

      Pages 238-254

   3. Solitons in General Relativity and Supergravity

      • G. W. Gibbons

      Pages 255-279

   4. The Dynamics of Spacetime Curvature: Nonlinear Aspects

      • Kip S. Thorne

      Pages 280-291

6. High Energy Physics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 293-293

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   2. Unification, Supersymmetry and Cosmology

      • John Ellis

      Pages 294-343

   3. Lectures on Quark Flavor Mixing in the Standard Model

      • Eduardo de Rafael

      Pages 344-439

7. Back Matter

   Pages 441-444

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It was almost four hundred years ago that Galileo wrote in Il Saggiatore that the "Book of Nature is written in mathema ti ca 1 characters". Thi s sentence, i nspi red at the dawn of physics has proved with the passage of time to contain a deep truth and also a warning: in order to understand Nature, first we must learn to read mathema­ tical characters. Indeed, writing physical law in such characters has proved not as hard as unraveling the content of the resulting equations. In particular, the lack of knowledge in the field of nonlinear mathematics has been a severe limita­ tion in the past. Thus the solution to equations such as the Navier-Stokes equation in fluid dynamics has remained elusive. The recent advent of fast computers and some important analytical and numerical results in the study of bifurcations and nonlinear waves have encouraged work both in theory and experiment involving non­ linear phenomena. An explosive growth in the specialized literature penetrating most research areas in physics in the last few years has ensued. This book contains the most recent advances in nonlinear physics in various fields including astrophysics, gravitation, particle physics, quantum optics, fluid dynamics and the mathematics underlying the phenomena of chaos and nonlinear waves. It presents a selection from the lectures delivered at the XXI '_atin American School of Physics held in Santiago, Chile in July-August 1984 (EtAF'84).

• Navier-Stokes equation
• Particle Physics
• Phenomena
• fluid dynamics
• optics
• fluid- and aerodynamics

• Facultad de Fisica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

  Francisco Claro

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