Lanterna Rally

Author: M. V. Karasev

Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9780821833360

The collection consists of four papers in different areas of mathematical physics united by the intrinsic coherence of the asymptotic methods used. The papers describe both the known results and most recent achievements, as well as new concepts and ideas in mathematical analysis of quantum and wave problems. In the introductory paper ``Quantization and Intrinsic Dynamics'' a relationship between quantization of symplectic manifolds and nonlinear wave equations is described and discussed from the viewpoint of the weak asymptotics method (asymptotics in distributions) and the semiclassical approximation method. It also explains a hidden dynamic geometry that arises when using these methods. Three other papers discuss applications of asymptotic methods to the construction of wave-type solutions of nonlinear PDE's, to the theory of semiclassical approximation (in particular, the Whitham method) for nonlinear second-order ordinary differential equations, and to the study of the Schrodinger type equations whose potential wells are sufficiently shallow that the discrete spectrum contains precisely one point. All the papers contain detailed references and are oriented not only to specialists in asymptotic methods, but also to a wider audience of researchers and graduate students working in partial differential equations and mathematical physics.