Since the characterization of generators of C0 semigroups was established in the 1940s, semigroups of linear operators and its neighboring areas have developed into an abstract theory that has become a necessary discipline in functional analysis and differential equations. This book presents that theory and its basic applications, and the last two chapters give a connected account of the applications to partial differential equations.

The book presents major topics in semigroups, such as operator theory, partial differential equations, harmonic analysis, probability and statistics and classical and quantum mechanics, and applications. Along with a systematic development of the subject, the book emphasises on the explorations of the contact areas and interfaces, supported by the presentations of explicit computations, wherever feasible. Designed into seven chapters and three appendixes, the book targets to the graduate and senior undergraduate students of mathematics, as well as researchers in the respective areas. The book envisages the pre-requisites of a good understanding of real analysis with elements of the theory of measures and integration, and a first course in functional analysis and in the theory of operators. Chapters 4 through 6 contain advanced topics, which have many interesting applications such as the Feynman–Kac formula, the central limit theorem and the construction of Markov semigroups. Many examples have been given in each chapter, partly to initiate and motivate the theory developed and partly to underscore the applications. The choice of topics in this vastly developed book is a difficult one, and the authors have made an effort to stay closer to applications instead of bringing in too many abstract concepts.

"Numerical Semigroups" is the first monograph devoted exclusively to the development of the theory of numerical semigroups. This concise, self-contained text is accessible to first year graduate students, giving the full background needed for readers unfamiliar with the topic. Researchers will find the tools presented useful in producing examples and counterexamples in other fields such as algebraic geometry, number theory, and linear programming.

The book offers a direct and up-to-date introduction to the theory of one-parameter semigroups of linear operators on Banach spaces. The book is intended for students and researchers who want to become acquainted with the concept of semigroups.

In recent years important progress has been made in the study of semi-groups of operators from the viewpoint of approximation theory. These advances have primarily been achieved by introducing the theory of intermediate spaces. The applications of the theory not only permit integration of a series of diverse questions from many domains of mathematical analysis but also lead to significant new results on classical approximation theory, on the initial and boundary behavior of solutions of partial differential equations, and on the theory of singular integrals. The aim of this book is to present a systematic treatment of semi groups of bounded linear operators on Banach spaces and their connec tions with approximation theoretical questions in a more classical setting as well as within the setting of the theory of intermediate spaces. However, no attempt is made to present an exhaustive account of the theory of semi-groups of operators per se, which is the central theme of the monumental treatise by HILLE and PHILLIPS (1957). Neither has it been attempted to give an account of the theory of approximation as such. A number of excellent books on various aspects of the latter theory has appeared in recent years, so for example CHENEY (1966), DAVIS (1963), LORENTZ (1966), MEINARDUS (1964), RICE (1964), SARD (1963). By contrast, the present book is primarily concerned with those aspects of semi-group theory that are connected in some way or other with approximation.

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that there are important connections relating three concepts -- groupoids, inverse semigroups, and operator algebras. There has been a great deal of progress in this area over the last two decades, and this book gives a careful, up-to-date and reasonably extensive account of the subject matter. After an introductory first chapter, the second chapter presents a self-contained account of inverse semigroups, locally compact and r-discrete groupoids, and Lie groupoids. The section on Lie groupoids in chapter 2 contains a detailed discussion of groupoids particularly important in noncommutative geometry, including the holonomy groupoids of a foliated manifold and the tangent groupoid of a manifold. The representation theories of locally compact and r-discrete groupoids are developed in the third chapter, and it is shown that the C*-algebras of r-discrete groupoids are the covariance C*-algebras for inverse semigroup actions on locally compact Hausdorff spaces. A final chapter associates a universal r-discrete groupoid with any inverse semigroup. Six subsequent appendices treat topics related to those covered in the text. The book should appeal to a wide variety of professional mathematicians and graduate students in fields such as operator algebras, analysis on groupoids, semigroup theory, and noncommutative geometry. It will also be of interest to mathematicians interested in tilings and theoretical physicists whose focus is modeling quasicrystals with tilings. An effort has been made to make the book lucid and 'user friendly"; thus it should be accessible to any reader with a basic background in measure theory and functional analysis.