John Mather's seminal works in Hamiltonian dynamics represent some of the most important contributions to our understanding of the complex balance between stable and unstable motions in classical mechanics. His novel approach—known as Aubry-Mather theory—singles out the existence of special orbits and invariant measures of the system, which possess a very rich dynamical and geometric structure. In particular, the associated invariant sets play a leading role in determining the global dynamics of the system. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Mather’s theory, and can serve as an interdisciplinary bridge for researchers and students from different fields seeking to acquaint themselves with the topic. Starting with the mathematical background from which Mather’s theory was born, Alfonso Sorrentino first focuses on the core questions the theory aims to answer—notably the destiny of broken invariant KAM tori and the onset of chaos—and describes how it can be viewed as a natural counterpart of KAM theory. He achieves this by guiding readers through a detailed illustrative example, which also provides the basis for introducing the main ideas and concepts of the general theory. Sorrentino then describes the whole theory and its subsequent developments and applications in their full generality. Shedding new light on John Mather’s revolutionary ideas, this book is certain to become a foundational text in the modern study of Hamiltonian systems.

John Mather's seminal works in Hamiltonian dynamics represent some of the most important contributions to our understanding of the complex balance between stable and unstable motions in classical mechanics. His novel approach-known as Aubry-Mather theory-singles out the existence of special orbits and invariant measures of the system, which possess a very rich dynamical and geometric structure. In particular, the associated invariant sets play a leading role in determining the global dynamics of the system. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Mather's theory, and can serve as a.

This book gives an extensive survey of many important topics in the theory of Hamilton–Jacobi equations with particular emphasis on modern approaches and viewpoints. Firstly, the basic well-posedness theory of viscosity solutions for first-order Hamilton–Jacobi equations is covered. Then, the homogenization theory, a very active research topic since the late 1980s but not covered in any standard textbook, is discussed in depth. Afterwards, dynamical properties of solutions, the Aubry–Mather theory, and weak Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser (KAM) theory are studied. Both dynamical and PDE approaches are introduced to investigate these theories. Connections between homogenization, dynamical aspects, and the optimal rate of convergence in homogenization theory are given as well. The book is self-contained and is useful for a course or for references. It can also serve as a gentle introductory reference to the homogenization theory.

The first complete proof of Arnold diffusion—one of the most important problems in dynamical systems and mathematical physics Arnold diffusion, which concerns the appearance of chaos in classical mechanics, is one of the most important problems in the fields of dynamical systems and mathematical physics. Since it was discovered by Vladimir Arnold in 1963, it has attracted the efforts of some of the most prominent researchers in mathematics. The question is whether a typical perturbation of a particular system will result in chaotic or unstable dynamical phenomena. In this groundbreaking book, Vadim Kaloshin and Ke Zhang provide the first complete proof of Arnold diffusion, demonstrating that that there is topological instability for typical perturbations of five-dimensional integrable systems (two and a half degrees of freedom). This proof realizes a plan John Mather announced in 2003 but was unable to complete before his death. Kaloshin and Zhang follow Mather's strategy but emphasize a more Hamiltonian approach, tying together normal forms theory, hyperbolic theory, Mather theory, and weak KAM theory. Offering a complete, clean, and modern explanation of the steps involved in the proof, and a clear account of background material, this book is designed to be accessible to students as well as researchers. The result is a critical contribution to mathematical physics and dynamical systems, especially Hamiltonian systems.

A concise treatment of variational techniques, focussing on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems, ideal for physics, engineering and mathematics students.

This textbook aims to provide a clear and concise set of lectures that take one from the introduction and application of Newton's laws up to Hamilton's principle of stationary action and the lagrangian mechanics of continuous systems. An extensive set of accessible problems enhances and extends the coverage.It serves as a prequel to the author's recently published book entitled Introduction to Electricity and Magnetism based on an introductory course taught sometime ago at Stanford with over 400 students enrolled. Both lectures assume a good, concurrent, course in calculus and familiarity with basic concepts in physics; the development is otherwise self-contained.A good introduction to the subject allows one to approach the many more intermediate and advanced texts with better understanding and a deeper sense of appreciation that both students and teachers alike can share.