This book deals with such important subjects as variational methods, the continuity method, parabolic equations on fiber bundles, ideas concerning points of concentration, blowing-up technique, geometric and topological methods. It explores important geometric problems that are of interest to many mathematicians and scientists but have only recently been partially solved.

This volume is intended to allow mathematicians and physicists, especially analysts, to learn about nonlinear problems which arise in Riemannian Geometry. Analysis on Riemannian manifolds is a field currently undergoing great development. More and more, analysis proves to be a very powerful means for solving geometrical problems. Conversely, geometry may help us to solve certain problems in analysis. There are several reasons why the topic is difficult and interesting. It is very large and almost unexplored. On the other hand, geometric problems often lead to limiting cases of known problems in analysis, sometimes there is even more than one approach, and the already existing theoretical studies are inadequate to solve them. Each problem has its own particular difficulties. Nevertheless there exist some standard methods which are useful and which we must know to apply them. One should not forget that our problems are motivated by geometry, and that a geometrical argument may simplify the problem under investigation. Examples of this kind are still too rare. This work is neither a systematic study of a mathematical field nor the presentation of a lot of theoretical knowledge. On the contrary, I do my best to limit the text to the essential knowledge. I define as few concepts as possible and give only basic theorems which are useful for our topic. But I hope that the reader will find this sufficient to solve other geometrical problems by analysis.

Easily accessible Includes recent developments Assumes very little knowledge of differentiable manifolds and functional analysis Particular emphasis on topics related to mirror symmetry (SUSY, Kaehler-Einstein metrics, Tian-Todorov lemma)

This book collects invited contributions by specialists in the domain of elliptic partial differential equations and geometric flows. There are introductory survey articles as well as papers presenting the latest research results. Among the topics covered are blow-up theory for second order elliptic equations; bubbling phenomena in the harmonic map heat flow; applications of scans and fractional power integrands; heat flow for the p-energy functional; Ricci flow and evolution by curvature of networks of curves in the plane.

* A geometric approach to problems in physics, many of which cannot be solved by any other methods * Text is enriched with good examples and exercises at the end of every chapter * Fine for a course or seminar directed at grad and adv. undergrad students interested in elliptic and hyperbolic differential equations, differential geometry, calculus of variations, quantum mechanics, and physics

Elliptic equations of critical Sobolev growth have been the target of investigation for decades because they have proved to be of great importance in analysis, geometry, and physics. The equations studied here are of the well-known Yamabe type. They involve Schrödinger operators on the left hand side and a critical nonlinearity on the right hand side. A significant development in the study of such equations occurred in the 1980s. It was discovered that the sequence splits into a solution of the limit equation--a finite sum of bubbles--and a rest that converges strongly to zero in the Sobolev space consisting of square integrable functions whose gradient is also square integrable. This splitting is known as the integral theory for blow-up. In this book, the authors develop the pointwise theory for blow-up. They introduce new ideas and methods that lead to sharp pointwise estimates. These estimates have important applications when dealing with sharp constant problems (a case where the energy is minimal) and compactness results (a case where the energy is arbitrarily large). The authors carefully and thoroughly describe pointwise behavior when the energy is arbitrary. Intended to be as self-contained as possible, this accessible book will interest graduate students and researchers in a range of mathematical fields.