Written in the spirit of Liboff's acclaimed text on Quantum Mechanics, this introduction to group theory offers an exceptionally clear presentation with a good sense of what to explain, which examples are most appropriate, and when to give a counter-example.

This richly illustrated book introduces the subject of optimization to a broad audience with a balanced treatment of theory, models and algorithms. Through numerous examples from statistical learning, operations research, engineering, finance and economics, the text explains how to formulate and justify models while accounting for real-world considerations such as data uncertainty. It goes beyond the classical topics of linear, nonlinear and convex programming and deals with nonconvex and nonsmooth problems as well as games, generalized equations and stochastic optimization. The book teaches theoretical aspects in the context of concrete problems, which makes it an accessible onramp to variational analysis, integral functions and approximation theory. More than 100 exercises and 200 fully developed examples illustrate the application of the concepts. Readers should have some foundation in differential calculus and linear algebra. Exposure to real analysis would be helpful but is not prerequisite.

Explorations in Topology, Second Edition, provides students a rich experience with low-dimensional topology (map coloring, surfaces, and knots), enhances their geometrical and topological intuition, empowers them with new approaches to solving problems, and provides them with experiences that will help them make sense of future, more formal topology courses. The book's innovative story-line style models the problem-solving process, presents the development of concepts in a natural way, and engages students in meaningful encounters with the material. The updated end-of-chapter investigations provide opportunities to work on many open-ended, non-routine problems and, through a modified "Moore method," to make conjectures from which theorems emerge. The revised end-of-chapter notes provide historical background to the chapter's ideas, introduce standard terminology, and make connections with mainstream mathematics. The final chapter of projects provides ideas for continued research. Explorations in Topology, Second Edition, enhances upper division courses and is a valuable reference for all levels of students and researchers working in topology. - Students begin to solve substantial problems from the start - Ideas unfold through the context of a storyline, and students become actively involved - The text models the problem-solving process, presents the development of concepts in a natural way, and helps the reader engage with the material

Here is a lucid thoughtful guide to understanding the structure and organization of three-dimension al space. In 250 captioned drawings this book brilliantly communicates the beauty and geometry of polyhedra. Beginning with polygons and tessellations. It proceeds in a logical sequence to finite polyhedra, dual polyhedra, space filling, and open packings. Important considerations of symmetry, periodic and uniform patterns, and regular and semiregular forms are presented. Because the understanding of polyhedra is enhanced by the manipulation of models, a chapter on both two- and three-dimensional constructions is included. This uniquely valuable reference work will be welcomed by designers, architects, mathematicians, and scientists who are interested in a graphic, yet rigorous, presentation of form and spatlal options. This little book will be a delightful addition to the libraries of those readers who are entranced by the intriguing subject of polyhedra.

This book discusses some of the first principles of modern analysis. I t can be used for courses at several levels, depending upon the background and ability of the students. It was written on the premise that today's good students have unexpected enthusiasm and nerve. When hard work is put to them, they work harder and ask for more. The honors course (at the University of Wisconsin) which inspired this book was, I think, more fun than the book itself. And better. But then there is acting in teaching, and a typewriter is a poor substitute for an audience. The spontaneous, creative disorder that characterizes an exciting course becomes silly in a book. To write, one must cut and dry. Yet, I hope enough of the spontaneity, enough of the spirit of that course, is left to enable those using the book to create exciting courses of their own. Exercises in this book are not designed for drill. They are designed to clarify the meanings of the theorems, to force an understanding of the proofs, and to call attention to points in a proof that might otherwise be overlooked. The exercises, therefore, are a real part of the theory, not a collection of side issues, and as such nearly all of them are to be done. Some drill is, of course, necessary, particularly in the calculation of integrals.

The concise yet authoritative presentation of key techniques for basic mixtures experiments Inspired by the author's bestselling advanced book on the topic, A Primer on Experiments with Mixtures provides an introductory presentation of the key principles behind experimenting with mixtures. Outlining useful techniques through an applied approach with examples from real research situations, the book supplies a comprehensive discussion of how to design and set up basic mixture experiments, then analyze the data and draw inferences from results. Drawing from his extensive experience teaching the topic at various levels, the author presents the mixture experiments in an easy-to-follow manner that is void of unnecessary formulas and theory. Succinct presentations explore key methods and techniques for carrying out basic mixture experiments, including: Designs and models for exploring the entire simplex factor space, with coverage of simplex-lattice and simplex-centroid designs, canonical polynomials, the plotting of individual residuals, and axial designs Multiple constraints on the component proportions in the form of lower and/or upper bounds, introducing L-Pseudocomponents, multicomponent constraints, and multiple lattice designs for major and minor component classifications Techniques for analyzing mixture data such as model reduction and screening components, as well as additional topics such as measuring the leverage of certain design points Models containing ratios of the components, Cox's mixture polynomials, and the fitting of a slack variable model A review of least squares and the analysis of variance for fitting data Each chapter concludes with a summary and appendices with details on the technical aspects of the material. Throughout the book, exercise sets with selected answers allow readers to test their comprehension of the material, and References and Recommended Reading sections outline further resources for study of the presented topics. A Primer on Experiments with Mixtures is an excellent book for one-semester courses on mixture designs and can also serve as a supplement for design of experiments courses at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a suitable reference for practitioners and researchers who have an interest in experiments with mixtures and would like to learn more about the related mixture designs and models.

The importance of mathematics competitions has been widely recognised for three reasons: they help to develop imaginative capacity and thinking skills whose value far transcends mathematics; they constitute the most effective way of discovering and nurturing mathematical talent; and they provide a means to combat the prevalent false image of mathematics held by high school students, as either a fearsomely difficult or a dull and uncreative subject. This book provides a comprehensive training resource for competitions from local and provincial to national Olympiad level, containing hundreds of diagrams, and graced by many light-hearted cartoons. It features a large collection of what mathematicians call "beautiful" problems - non-routine, provocative, fascinating, and challenging problems, often with elegant solutions. It features careful, systematic exposition of a selection of the most important topics encountered in mathematics competitions, assuming little prior knowledge. Geometry, trigonometry, mathematical induction, inequalities, Diophantine equations, number theory, sequences and series, the binomial theorem, and combinatorics - are all developed in a gentle but lively manner, liberally illustrated with examples, and consistently motivated by attractive "appetiser" problems, whose solution appears after the relevant theory has been expounded. Each chapter is presented as a "toolchest" of instruments designed for cracking the problems collected at the end of the chapter. Other topics, such as algebra, co-ordinate geometry, functional equations and probability, are introduced and elucidated in the posing and solving of the large collection of miscellaneous problems in the final toolchest. An unusual feature of this book is the attention paid throughout to the history of mathematics - the origins of the ideas, the terminology and some of the problems, and the celebration of mathematics as a multicultural, cooperative human achievement. As a bonus the aspiring "mathlete" may encounter, in the most enjoyable way possible, many of the topics that form the core of the standard school curriculum.