An asymptotic expansion is a series that provides a sequence of increasingly accurate approximations to a function in a particular limit. The formal definition, given by Poincare (1886, Acta Math. 8:295), is as follows. Given a function,

This is the first thorough examination of weakly nonlocal solitary waves, which are just as important in applications as their classical counterparts. The book describes a class of waves that radiate away from the core of the disturbance but are nevertheless very long-lived nonlinear disturbances.

The interaction of a fluid with a solid body is a widespread phenomenon in nature, occurring at different scales and different applied disciplines. Interestingly enough, even though the mathematical theory of the motion of bodies in a liquid is one of the oldest and most classical problems in fluid mechanics, mathematicians have, only very recently, become interested in a systematic study of the basic problems related to fluid-structure interaction, from both analytical and numerical viewpoints. Fundamental Trends in Fluid-Structure Interaction is a unique collection of important papers written by world-renowned experts aimed at furnishing the highest level of development in several significant areas of fluid-structure interactions. The contributions cover several aspects of this discipline, from mathematical analysis, numerical simulation and modeling viewpoints, including motion of rigid and elastic bodies in a viscous liquid, particulate flow and hemodynamic.

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to the theory of equatorially-confined waves and currents in the ocean. Among the topics treated are inertial and shear instabilities, wave generation by coastal reflection, semiannual and annual cycles in the tropic sea, transient equatorial waves, vertically-propagating beams, equatorial Ekman layers, the Yoshida jet model, generation of coastal Kelvin waves from equatorial waves by reflection, Rossby solitary waves, and Kelvin frontogenesis. A series of appendices on midlatitude theories for waves, jets and wave reflections add further material to assist the reader in understanding the differences between the same phenomenon in the equatorial zone versus higher latitudes.