This book presents an introduction to variational analysis, a field which unifies theories and techniques developed in calculus of variations, optimization, and control, and covers convex analysis, nonsmooth analysis, and set-valued analysis. It focuses on problems with constraints, the analysis of which involves set-valued mappings and functions that are not differentiable. Applications of variational analysis are interdisciplinary, ranging from financial planning to steering a flying object. The book is addressed to graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in mathematical sciences, engineering, economics, and finance. A typical reader of the book should be familiar with multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Some basic knowledge in optimization, control, and elementary functional analysis is desirable, but all necessary background material is included in the book.

From its origins in the minimization of integral functionals, the notion of variations has evolved greatly in connection with applications in optimization, equilibrium, and control. This book develops a unified framework and provides a detailed exposition of variational geometry and subdifferential calculus in their current forms beyond classical and convex analysis. Also covered are set-convergence, set-valued mappings, epi-convergence, duality, and normal integrands.

This Volume contains the (refereed) papers presented at the 38th Conference of the School of Mathematics "G.Stampacchia" of the "E.Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture of Erice (Sicily), held in Memory ofG. Stampacchia and J.-L. Lions in the period June 20 - July 2003. The presence of participants from Countries has greatly contributed to the success of the meeting. The School of Mathematics was dedicated to Stampacchia, not only for his great mathematical achievements, but also because He founded it. The core of the Conference has been the various features of the Variational Analysis and their motivations and applications to concrete problems. Variational Analysis encompasses a large area of modem Mathematics, such as the classical Calculus of Variations, the theories of perturbation, approximation, subgradient, subderivates, set convergence and Variational Inequalities, and all these topics have been deeply and intensely dealt during the Conference. In particular, Variational Inequalities, which have been initiated by Stampacchia, inspired by Signorini Problem and the related work of G. Fichera, have offered a very great possibility of applications to several fundamental problems of Mathematical Physics, Engineering, Statistics and Economics. The pioneer work of Stampacchia and Lions can be considered as the basic kernel around which Variational Analysis is going to be outlined and constructed. The Conference has dealt with both finite and infinite dimensional analysis, showing that to carry on these two aspects disjointly is unsuitable for both.

This is based on the course 'Calculus of Variations' taught at Peking University from 2006 to 2010 for advanced undergraduate to graduate students majoring in mathematics. The book contains 20 lectures covering both the theoretical background material as well as an abundant collection of applications. Lectures 1-8 focus on the classical theory of calculus of variations. Lectures 9-14 introduce direct methods along with their theoretical foundations. Lectures 15-20 showcase a broad collection of applications. The book offers a panoramic view of the very important topic on calculus of variations. This is a valuable resource not only to mathematicians, but also to those students in engineering, economics, and management, etc.

This volume presents a broad discussion of computational methods and theories on various classical and modern research problems from pure and applied mathematics. Readers conducting research in mathematics, engineering, physics, and economics will benefit from the diversity of topics covered. Contributions from an international community treat the following subjects: calculus of variations, optimization theory, operations research, game theory, differential equations, functional analysis, operator theory, approximation theory, numerical analysis, asymptotic analysis, and engineering. Specific topics include algorithms for difference of monotone operators, variational inequalities in semi-inner product spaces, function variation principles and normed minimizers, equilibria of parametrized N-player nonlinear games, multi-symplectic numerical schemes for differential equations, time-delay multi-agent systems, computational methods in non-linear design of experiments, unsupervised stochastic learning, asymptotic statistical results, global-local transformation, scattering relations of elastic waves, generalized Ostrowski and trapezoid type rules, numerical approximation, Szász Durrmeyer operators and approximation, integral inequalities, behaviour of the solutions of functional equations, functional inequalities in complex Banach spaces, functional contractions in metric spaces.

The implicit function theorem is one of the most important theorems in analysis and its many variants are basic tools in partial differential equations and numerical analysis. This second edition of Implicit Functions and Solution Mappings presents an updated and more complete picture of the field by including solutions of problems that have been solved since the first edition was published, and places old and new results in a broader perspective. The purpose of this self-contained work is to provide a reference on the topic and to provide a unified collection of a number of results which are currently scattered throughout the literature. Updates to this edition include new sections in almost all chapters, new exercises and examples, updated commentaries to chapters and an enlarged index and references section.

This volume is an excellent guide for anyone interested in variational analysis, optimization, and PDEs. It offers a detailed presentation of the most important tools in variational analysis as well as applications to problems in geometry, mechanics, elasticity, and computer vision.