Complex Dynamics: Families and Friends features contributions by many of the leading mathematicians in the field, such as Mikhail Lyubich, John Milnor, Mitsuhiro Shishikura, and William Thurston. Some of the chapters, including an introduction by Thurston to the general subject of complex dynamics, are classic manuscripts that were never published

Addressing researchers and graduate students in the active meeting ground of analysis, geometry, and dynamics, this book presents a study of renormalization of quadratic polynomials and a rapid introduction to techniques in complex dynamics. Its central concern is the structure of an infinitely renormalizable quadratic polynomial f(z) = z2 + c. As discovered by Feigenbaum, such a mapping exhibits a repetition of form at infinitely many scales. Drawing on universal estimates in hyperbolic geometry, this work gives an analysis of the limiting forms that can occur and develops a rigidity criterion for the polynomial f. This criterion supports general conjectures about the behavior of rational maps and the structure of the Mandelbrot set. The course of the main argument entails many facets of modern complex dynamics. Included are foundational results in geometric function theory, quasiconformal mappings, and hyperbolic geometry. Most of the tools are discussed in the setting of general polynomials and rational maps.

A discussion of the properties of conformal mappings in the complex plane, closely related to the study of fractals and chaos. Indeed, the book ends in a detailed study of the famous Mandelbrot set, which describes very general properties of such mappings. Focusing on the analytic side of this contemporary subject, the text was developed from a course taught over several semesters and aims to help students and instructors to familiarize themselves with complex dynamics. Topics covered include: conformal and quasi-conformal mappings, fixed points and conjugations, basic rational iteration, classification of periodic components, critical points and expanding maps, some applications of conformal mappings, the local geometry of the Fatou set, and quadratic polynomials and the Mandelbrot set.

Explains the relationship of electrophysiology, nonlinear dynamics, and the computational properties of neurons, with each concept presented in terms of both neuroscience and mathematics and illustrated using geometrical intuition. In order to model neuronal behavior or to interpret the results of modeling studies, neuroscientists must call upon methods of nonlinear dynamics. This book offers an introduction to nonlinear dynamical systems theory for researchers and graduate students in neuroscience. It also provides an overview of neuroscience for mathematicians who want to learn the basic facts of electrophysiology. Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience presents a systematic study of the relationship of electrophysiology, nonlinear dynamics, and computational properties of neurons. It emphasizes that information processing in the brain depends not only on the electrophysiological properties of neurons but also on their dynamical properties. The book introduces dynamical systems, starting with one- and two-dimensional Hodgkin-Huxley-type models and continuing to a description of bursting systems. Each chapter proceeds from the simple to the complex, and provides sample problems at the end. The book explains all necessary mathematical concepts using geometrical intuition; it includes many figures and few equations, making it especially suitable for non-mathematicians. Each concept is presented in terms of both neuroscience and mathematics, providing a link between the two disciplines. Nonlinear dynamical systems theory is at the core of computational neuroscience research, but it is not a standard part of the graduate neuroscience curriculum—or taught by math or physics department in a way that is suitable for students of biology. This book offers neuroscience students and researchers a comprehensive account of concepts and methods increasingly used in computational neuroscience. An additional chapter on synchronization, with more advanced material, can be found at the author's website, www.izhikevich.com.

This volume studies the dynamics of iterated holomorphic mappings from a Riemann surface to itself, concentrating on the classical case of rational maps of the Riemann sphere. This subject is large and rapidly growing. These lectures are intended to introduce some key ideas in the field, and to form a basis for further study. The reader is assumed to be familiar with the rudiments of complex variable theory and of two-dimensional differential geometry, as well as some basic topics from topology. This third edition contains a number of minor additions and improvements: A historical survey has been added, the definition of Lattés map has been made more inclusive, and the écalle-Voronin theory of parabolic points is described. The résidu itératif is studied, and the material on two complex variables has been expanded. Recent results on effective computability have been added, and the references have been expanded and updated. Written in his usual brilliant style, the author makes difficult mathematics look easy. This book is a very accessible source for much of what has been accomplished in the field.

In the last twenty years, the theory of holomorphic dynamical systems has had a resurgence of activity, particularly concerning the fine analysis of Julia sets associated with polynomials and rational maps in one complex variable. At the same time, closely related theories have had a similar rapid development, for example the qualitative theory of differential equations in the complex domain. The meeting, ``Etat de la recherche'', held at Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, presented the current state of the art in this area, emphasizing the unity linking the various sub-domains. This volume contains four survey articles corresponding to the talks presented at this meeting. D. Cerveau describes the structure of polynomial differential equations in the complex plane, focusing on the local analysis in neighborhoods of singular points. E. Ghys surveys the theory of laminations by Riemann surfaces which occur in many dynamical or geometrical situations. N. Sibony describes the present state of the generalization of the Fatou-Julia theory for polynomial or rational maps in two or more complex dimensions. Lastly, the talk by J.-C. Yoccoz, written by M. Flexor, considers polynomials of degree $2$ in one complex variable, and in particular, with the hyperbolic properties of these polynomials centered around the Jakobson theorem. This is a general introduction that gives a basic history of holomorphic dynamical systems, demonstrating the numerous and fruitful interactions among the topics. In the spirit of the ``Etat de la recherche de la SMF'' meetings, the articles are written for a broad mathematical audience, especially students or mathematicians working in different fields. This book is translated from the French edition by Leslie Kay.

This book focuses on complex analytic dynamics, which dates from 1916 and is currently attracting considerable interest. The text provides a comprehensive, well-organized treatment of the foundations of the theory of iteration of rational functions of a complex variable. The coverage extends from early memoirs of Fatou and Julia to important recent results and methods of Sullivan and Shishikura. Many details of the proofs have not appeared in print before.