Incomplete second order linear differential equations in Banach spaces as well as first order equations have become a classical part of functional analysis. This monograph is an attempt to present a unified systematic theory of second order equations y" (t) + Ay' (t) + By (t) = 0 including well-posedness of the Cauchy problem as well as the Dirichlet and Neumann problems. Exhaustive yet clear answers to all posed questions are given. Special emphasis is placed on new surprising effects arising for complete second order equations which do not take place for first order and incomplete second order equations. For this purpose, some new results in the spectral theory of pairs of operators and the boundary behavior of integral transforms have been developed. The book serves as a self-contained introductory course and a reference book on this subject for undergraduate and post- graduate students and research mathematicians in analysis. Moreover, users will welcome having a comprehensive study of the equations at hand, and it gives insight into the theory of complete second order linear differential equations in a general context - a theory which is far from being fully understood.

Second order linear parabolic and elliptic equations arise frequently in mathematics and other disciplines. For example parabolic equations are to be found in statistical mechanics and solid state theory, their infinite dimensional counterparts are important in fluid mechanics, mathematical finance and population biology, whereas nonlinear parabolic equations arise in control theory. Here the authors present a state of the art treatment of the subject from a new perspective. The main tools used are probability measures in Hilbert and Banach spaces and stochastic evolution equations. There is then a discussion of how the results in the book can be applied to control theory. This area is developing very rapidly and there are numerous notes and references that point the reader to more specialised results not covered in the book. Coverage of some essential background material will help make the book self-contained and increase its appeal to those entering the subject.

The main purpose of this book is to present the basic theory and some recent de velopments concerning the Cauchy problem for higher order abstract differential equations u(n)(t) + ~ AiU(i)(t) = 0, t ~ 0, { U(k)(O) = Uk, 0 ~ k ~ n-l. where AQ, Ab . . . , A - are linear operators in a topological vector space E. n 1 Many problems in nature can be modeled as (ACP ). For example, many n initial value or initial-boundary value problems for partial differential equations, stemmed from mechanics, physics, engineering, control theory, etc. , can be trans lated into this form by regarding the partial differential operators in the space variables as operators Ai (0 ~ i ~ n - 1) in some function space E and letting the boundary conditions (if any) be absorbed into the definition of the space E or of the domain of Ai (this idea of treating initial value or initial-boundary value problems was discovered independently by E. Hille and K. Yosida in the forties). The theory of (ACP ) is closely connected with many other branches of n mathematics. Therefore, the study of (ACPn) is important for both theoretical investigations and practical applications. Over the past half a century, (ACP ) has been studied extensively.

Second order linear differential equations in Banach spaces can be used for modelling such second order equations of mathematical physics as the wave equation, the Klein-Gordon equation, et al. In this way, a unified treatment can be given to subjects such as growth of solutions, singular perturbation of parabolic, hyperbolic and Schrödinger type initial value problems, and the like. The book covers in detail these subjects as well as the applications to each specific problem.

Together with the papers on the abstract operator theory are many papers on the theory of differential operators, boundary value problems, inverse scattering and other inverse problems, and on applications to biology, chemistry, wave propagation, and many other areas."--BOOK JACKET.

Functional Analysis has become one of the main branches in Chinese mathematics. Many outstanding contributions and results have been achieved over the past sixty years. This authoritative collection is complementary to Western studies in this field, and seeks to summarise and introduce the historical progress of the development of Functional Analysis in China from the 1940s to the present. A broad range of topics is covered, such as nonlinear functional analysis, linear operator theory, theory of operator algebras, applications including the solvability of some partial differential equations, and special spaces that contain Banach spaces and topological vector spaces. Some of these papers have made a significant impact on the mathematical community worldwide. Audience: This volume will be of interest to mathematicians, physicists and engineers at postgraduate level.

This book introduces the method of lower and upper solutions for ordinary differential equations. This method is known to be both easy and powerful to solve second order boundary value problems. Besides an extensive introduction to the method, the first half of the book describes some recent and more involved results on this subject. These concern the combined use of the method with degree theory, with variational methods and positive operators. The second half of the book concerns applications. This part exemplifies the method and provides the reader with a fairly large introduction to the problematic of boundary value problems. Although the book concerns mainly ordinary differential equations, some attention is given to other settings such as partial differential equations or functional differential equations. A detailed history of the problem is described in the introduction.· Presents the fundamental features of the method· Construction of lower and upper solutions in problems· Working applications and illustrated theorems by examples· Description of the history of the method and Bibliographical notes