The Genesis of Simulation in Dynamics: Pursuing the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Problem / Edition 1

by Thomas P. Weissert

Overview

An introduction to certain aspects of developments in the modern theory of dynamics and simulation for a wide audience of scientifically literate readers. Unlike general texts on chaos theory and dynamical systems theory, this book follows the work on a specific problem at the very beginning of the modern era of dynamics, from its inception in 1954 through the early 1970s. It discusses such problems as the nonlinear oscillator simulation, the seminal discoveries at MIT in the early 1950s, the mathematical rediscovery of solitons in the late 1950s and the general problems of computability. In following these developments, the initial development of many of the now standard techniques of nonlinear modelling and numerical simulation are seen. No other text focuses so tightly and covers so completely one specific, pernicious problem at the heart of dynamics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387982366
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	10/10/1997
Edition description:	1997
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.36(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; Part I: History; 1. The FPU Model and Simulation: "A Little Discovery"; 2. The FPU Research Program: Echoes on a String; 3. The Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser Theorem: "Here Comes the Surprise"; 4. Research Threads Come Together: Harmonic Convergence; 5. Part II: Philosophy; 5. Steps to an Epistemology of Simulation; Appendix: Hamiltonian Dynamics: Language of Abstraction; Glossary; References; Index