In this paper we shall prove two theorems which together allow the infinitesimal methods of Thom and Mather in singularity theory to be applied to problems of topological equivalence of mappings.

This monograph considers a basic problem in the computer analysis of natural images, which are images of scenes involving multiple objects that are obtained by a camera lens or a viewer’s eye. The goal is to detect geometric features of objects in the image and to separate regions of the objects with distinct visual properties. When the scene is illuminated by a single principal light source, we further include the visual clues resulting from the interaction of the geometric features of objects, the shade/shadow regions on the objects, and the “apparent contours”. We do so by a mathematical analysis using a repertoire of methods in singularity theory. This is applied for generic light directions of both the “stable configurations” for these interactions, whose features remain unchanged under small viewer movement, and the generic changes which occur under changes of view directions. These may then be used to differentiate between objects and determine their shapes and positions.

"This volume is a collection of papers presented at the 11th International Workshop on Real and Complex Singularities, held July 26-30, 2010, in Sao Carlos, Brazil, in honor of David Mond's 60th birthday. This volume reflects the high level of the conference discussing the most recent results and applications of singularity theory. Articles in the first part cover pure singularity theory: invariants, classification theory, and Milnor fibres. Articles in the second part cover singularities in topology and differential geometry, as well as algebraic geometry and bifurcation theory: Artin-Greenberg function of a plane curve singularity, metric theory of singularities, symplectic singularities, cobordisms of fold maps, Goursat distributions, sections of analytic varieties, Vassiliev invariants, projections of hypersurfaces, and linearity of the Jacobian ideal."--P. [4] of cover.

The monograph is a study of the local bifurcations of multiparameter symplectic maps of arbitrary dimension in the neighborhood of a fixed point.The problem is reduced to a study of critical points of an equivariant gradient bifurcation problem, using the correspondence between orbits ofa symplectic map and critical points of an action functional. New results onsingularity theory for equivariant gradient bifurcation problems are obtained and then used to classify singularities of bifurcating period-q points. Of particular interest is that a general framework for analyzing group-theoretic aspects and singularities of symplectic maps (particularly period-q points) is presented. Topics include: bifurcations when the symplectic map has spatial symmetry and a theory for the collision of multipliers near rational points with and without spatial symmetry. The monograph also includes 11 self-contained appendices each with a basic result on symplectic maps. The monograph will appeal to researchers and graduate students in the areas of symplectic maps, Hamiltonian systems, singularity theory and equivariant bifurcation theory.

Differential Geometry from a Singularity Theory Viewpoint provides a new look at the fascinating and classical subject of the differential geometry of surfaces in Euclidean spaces. The book uses singularity theory to capture some key geometric features of surfaces. It describes the theory of contact and its link with the theory of caustics and wavefronts. It then uses the powerful techniques of these theories to deduce geometric information about surfaces embedded in 3, 4 and 5-dimensional Euclidean spaces. The book also includes recent work of the authors and their collaborators on the geometry of sub-manifolds in Minkowski spaces.

This book contains papers given at the International Singularity Conference held in 1991 at Lille.

An up-to-date survey of research in singularity theory.