This book introduces stochastic dynamical systems theory in order to synthesize our current knowledge of climate variability. Nonlinear processes, such as advection, radiation and turbulent mixing, play a central role in climate variability. These processes can give rise to transition phenomena, associated with tipping or bifurcation points, once external conditions are changed. The theory of dynamical systems provides a systematic way to study these transition phenomena. Its stochastic extension also forms the basis of modern (nonlinear) data analysis techniques, predictability studies and data assimilation methods. Early chapters apply the stochastic dynamical systems framework to a hierarchy of climate models to synthesize current knowledge of climate variability. Later chapters analyse phenomena such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, El Niño/Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, Dansgaard–Oeschger events, Pleistocene ice ages and climate predictability. This book will prove invaluable for graduate students and researchers in climate dynamics, physical oceanography, meteorology and paleoclimatology.

It is now widely recognized that the climate system is governed by nonlinear, multi-scale processes, whereby memory effects and stochastic forcing by fast processes, such as weather and convective systems, can induce regime behavior. Motivated by present difficulties in understanding the climate system and to aid the improvement of numerical weather and climate models, this book gathers contributions from mathematics, physics and climate science to highlight the latest developments and current research questions in nonlinear and stochastic climate dynamics. Leading researchers discuss some of the most challenging and exciting areas of research in the mathematical geosciences, such as the theory of tipping points and of extreme events including spatial extremes, climate networks, data assimilation and dynamical systems. This book provides graduate students and researchers with a broad overview of the physical climate system and introduces powerful data analysis and modeling methods for climate scientists and applied mathematicians.

This book presents stochastic dynamical systems theory in order to synthesize our current knowledge of climate variability, for graduate students and researchers.

This concise and up-to-date textbook provides an accessible introduction to the core concepts of nonlinear dynamics as well as its existing and potential applications. The book is aimed at students and researchers in all the diverse fields in which nonlinear phenomena are important. Since most tasks in nonlinear dynamics cannot be treated analytically, skills in using numerical simulations are crucial for analyzing these phenomena. The text therefore addresses in detail appropriate computational methods as well as identifying the pitfalls of numerical simulations. It includes numerous executable code snippets referring to open source Julia software packages. Each chapter includes a selection of exercises with which students can test and deepen their skills.

This book is a collection of papers contributed by some of the greatest names in the areas of chaos and nonlinear dynamics. Each paper examines a research topic at the frontier of the area of dynamical systems. As well as reviewing recent results, each paper also discusses the future perspectives of each topic. The result is an invaluable snapshot of the state of the ?eld by some of the most important researchers in the area. The ?rst contribution in this book (the section entitled “How did you get into Chaos?”) is actually not a paper, but a collection of personal accounts by a number of participants of the conference held in Aberdeen in September 2007 to honour Celso Grebogi’s 60th birthday. At the instigation of James Yorke, many of the most well-known scientists in the area agreed to share their tales on how they got involved in chaos during a celebratory dinner in Celso’s honour during the conference. This was recorded in video, we felt that these accounts were a valuable historic document for the ?eld. So we decided to transcribe it and include it here as the ?rst section of the book.

This textbook is aimed at newcomers to nonlinear dynamics and chaos, especially students taking a first course in the subject. The presentation stresses analytical methods, concrete examples, and geometric intuition. The theory is developed systematically, starting with first-order differential equations and their bifurcations, followed by phase plane analysis, limit cycles and their bifurcations, and culminating with the Lorenz equations, chaos, iterated maps, period doubling, renormalization, fractals, and strange attractors.

Taken from a review of the first edition in SIAM: "This text is different from most others in that it combines several different disciplines and draws on many scientific studies in order to deduce mechanisms of ocean circulation. (...) Therefore (it) cannot be substituted, and (...) it meets its unique goals with clarity and thoroughness".