Approach your problems from the It isn't that they can't see the end and begin with the answers. solution. It is that they can't Then one day, perhaps you will see the problem. find the final question. G.K. Chesterton. The Scandal of 'The Hermit Clad in Crane Father Brown 'The Point of a Pin'. Feathers' in R. van Gulik's The Chinese Maze Murders. Growing specialization and diversification have brought a host of mono graphs and textbooks on increasingly topics. However, the "tree" of knowledge of mathematics and related fields does not grow only by putting forth new branches. It also happens, quite often in fact, that branches which were thought to be completely disparate are suddenly seen to be related. Further, the kind and level of sophistication of mathematics applied in various sciences has changed drastically in recent years: measure theory is used (non-trivially) in regional and theoretical economics; algebraic geometry interacts with physics; the Minkowsky lemma, coding theory and the structure of water meet one another in packing and covering theory; quantum fields, crystal defects and mathematical pro gramming profit from homotopy theory; Lie algebras are relevant to filtering; and prediction and electric engineering can use Stein spaces. And in addition to this there are such new emerging subdisciplines as "complete integrable systems", "chaos, synergetics and large-scale order", which are almost impossible to fit into the existing classifica tion schemes. The draw upon widely different sections of mathematics.

This book addresses the issue of non-linear problems that have dominated the forefront of physics. To analyse these problems, it is necessary to develop mathematical methods to match new concepts. In this connection, for the first time in a long time, the same key notions have attracted the attention of physicists and mathematicians. This book discusses how the role of such excitations in essentially non-linear systems is similar to that of harmonic oscillations and waves in linear physical models.

In the twenty years since Zabusky and Kruskal coined the term ``soliton'', this concept changed the outlook on certain types of nonlinear phenomena and found its way into all branches of physics. The present volume deals with a great variety of applications of the new concept in condensed-matter physics, which is particularly reached in experimentally observable occurrences. The presentation is not centred around the mathematical aspects; the emphasis is on the physical nature of the nonlinear phenomena occurring in particular situations.With its emphasis on concrete, mostly experimentally verifiable cases, ``Solitons'' constitutes a very readable and instructive introduction to the subject as well as an up-to-date account of current developments in a field of research reaching maturity.

In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave (a wave packet or pulse) that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of non-linear and dispersive effects in the medium. In this book, the authors discuss the interactions and theoretical and experimental challenges of solitons. Topics include soliton motion of electrons and its physical properties in coupled electron-phonon systems and ionic crystals; soliton excitations and its experimental evidence in molecular crystals; shapes and dynamics of semi-discrete solitons in arrayed and stacked waveguiding systems; and more.

Synergetics is the quantitative study of multicomponent systems that exhibit nonlinear dynamics and cooperativity. This book specifically considers basic models of the nonlinear dynamics of molecular systems and discusses relevant applications in biological physics and the polymer sciences. Emphasis is placed on specific solutions to the dynamical equations that correspond to the coherent formation of spatial-temporal structures, such as solitons, kinks and breathers, in particular. The emergence of these patterns in molecular structures provides a variety of information on their structural properties and plays a significant part in energy transfer processes, topological defects, dislocations, and related structure transitions. Real media, in which solitons take the form of solitary waves, are also considered. In this context, the formation of nonlinear waves in a continuous medium described by nonlinear equations is associated with spontaneous breaking of the local symmetry of the homogeneous system, which produces a range of interesting phenomena. A particular feature of this text is its combination of analytic and computational strategies to tackle difficult nonlinear problems at the molecular level of matter.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Molecular Self-Organization: From Molecules to Water, to Nanoparticles, to DNA and Proteins Kyiv, Ukraine 8-12 June 2008

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Thisted, Denmark, July 30-August 5, 1989