Ivar Ekeland

Jean-Pierre Aubin

Nonlinear analysis, formerly a subsidiary of linear analysis, has advanced as an individual discipline, with its own methods and applications. Moreover, students can now approach this highly active field without the preliminaries of linear analysis. As this text demonstrates, the concepts of nonlinear analysis are simple, their proofs direct, and their applications clear. No prerequisites are necessary beyond the elementary theory of Hilbert spaces; indeed, many of the most interesting results lie in Euclidean spaces. In order to remain at an introductory level, this volume refrains from delving into technical difficulties and sophisticated results not in current use. Applications are explained as soon as possible, and theoretical aspects are geared toward practical use. Topics range from very smooth functions to nonsmooth ones, from convex variational problems to nonconvex ones, and from economics to mechanics. Background notes, comments, bibliography, and indexes supplement the text.

Applied Nonlinear Analysis

Contemplating the randomness of nature, Ekeland extends his consideration of the catastrophe theory of the universe begun in Mathematics and the Unexpected, drawing upon rich literary sources and current topics in math and physics such as chaos theory, information theory, and particle physics. Line drawings.

The Broken Dice, and Other Mathematical Tales of Chance

Roger Temam

No one working in duality should be without a copy of Convex Analysis and Variational Problems. This book contains different developments of infinite dimensional convex programming in the context of convex analysis, including duality, minmax and Lagrangians, and convexification of nonconvex optimization problems in the calculus of variations (infinite dimension). It also includes the theory of convex duality applied to partial differential equations; no other reference presents this in a systematic way. The minmax theorems contained in this book have many useful applications, in particular the robust control of partial differential equations in finite time horizon. First published in English in 1976, this SIAM Classics in Applied Mathematics edition contains the original text along with a new preface and some additional references.

Convex Analysis and Variational Problems

Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. And pessimists fear that might really be the case. But what is the best of all possible worlds? How do we define it? Is it the world that operates the most efficiently? Or the one in which most people are comfortable and content? Questions such as these have preoccupied philosophers and theologians for ages, but there was a time, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when scientists and mathematicians felt they could provide the answer. This book is their story. Ivar Ekeland here takes the reader on a journey through scientific attempts to envision the best of all possible worlds. He begins with the French physicist Maupertuis, whose least action principle asserted that everything in nature occurs in the way that requires the least possible action. This idea, Ekeland shows, was a pivotal breakthrough in mathematics, because it was the first expression of the concept of optimization, or the creation of systems that are the most efficient or functional. Although the least action principle was later elaborated on and overshadowed by the theories of Leonhard Euler and Gottfried Leibniz, the concept of optimization that emerged from it is an important one that touches virtually every scientific discipline today. Tracing the profound impact of optimization and the unexpected ways in which it has influenced the study of mathematics, biology, economics, and even politics, Ekeland reveals throughout how the idea of optimization has driven some of our greatest intellectual breakthroughs. The result is a dazzling display of erudition—one that will be essential reading for popular-science buffs and historians of science alike.

Mathematics and Destiny

The Best of All Possible Worlds

La théorie du chaos a attiré l'attention sur le caractère imprévisible et aléatoire du monde physique. Mais une très ancienne tradition philosophique, relayée par la science classique, affirme au contraire l'harmonie générale de l'univers. Et Leibniz a même pu affirmer que ce monde est le meilleur des mondes possibles. Cette idée singulière a une longue histoire que retrace ce livre, montrant sur quels résultats scientifiques elle s'appuie et ce qu'elle est devenue aujourd'hui. À partir de l'œuvre de Galilée, la physique dégage un énigmatique " principe de moindre action ". Les progrès des mathématiques, dont certains fort récents, permettent d'en tirer petit à petit toutes les conséquences et de réduire l'étude des mouvements à des problèmes de géométrie. Mais la physique galiléenne ne s'applique qu'à un niveau particulier de la réalité, et le " principe de moindre action " disparaît à l'étage supérieur (thermodynamique) comme à l'étage inférieur (quantique). Aussi l'auteur est-il amené à conclure sur un certain scepticisme à l'égard d'une éventuelle vision globale et unifiée du monde. La recherche d'une raison simple et universelle expliquant pourquoi le monde est comme il est lui paraît une entreprise vouée à l'échec, mais il reste optimiste quant aux perspectives qu'offre la science pour améliorer la condition humaine.

mathématiques et destinée

Le meilleur des mondes possibles

"Not the least unexpected thing about Mathematics and the Unexpected is that a real mathematician should write not just a literate work, but a literary one."—Ian Stewart, New Scientist "In this brief, elegant treatise, assessable to anyone who likes to think, Ivar Ekelund explains some philosophical implications of recent mathematics. He examines randomness, the geometry involved in making predictions, and why general trends are easy to project (it will snow in January) but particulars are practically impossible (it will snow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the 21st)."—Village Voice

Mathematics and the Unexpected

René Carmona

Jean-Michel Lasry

Pierre-Louis Lions

Huyên Pham

Erik Taflin

This is the third volume in the Paris-Princeton Lectures in Financial Mathematics, which publishes, on an annual basis, cutting-edge research in self-contained, expository articles from outstanding specialists, both established and upcoming. Coverage includes articles by René Carmona, Ivar Ekeland/Erik Taflin, Arturo Kohatsu-Higa, Pierre-Louis Lions/Jean-Michel Lasry, and Huyên Pham.

Ivar Ekeland

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