... a wise man knows all things in a manner in which this is possible, not, however, knowing them individually. Aristotle. Metaphysics * The problem of consideration of vortex fields' influence on solid body dynamics has a long history. One constantly comes upon it in flight dynamics of airplanes, helicopters, and other flying vehicles (FV) moving in the atmosphere, in dynamics of ships with hydrofoils, and in dynamics of rocket carriers (RC) and spacecrafts (SC) with liquid-propellant rocket engines (LPRE), that are equipped with special damping devices and other structural elements inside fluid tanks. Similar problems occur when solving problems related to attitude control and stabilization of artificial Earth satellites (AES) and spacecrafts with magnetic (electro magnetic) systems, in conducting elements of which eddy currents are induced while control of those vehicles' angular position. It is also true with special test facilities for dynamic testing of space vehicles and their systems, with modern high-speed magnetic suspension transport systems (those based on the phenomenon of 'magnetic levitation'), with generators having rotors carried in 'magnetic bearings', and so on.

Modern fracture mechanics considers phenomena at many levels, macro and micro; it is therefore inextricably linked to methods of theoretical and mathematical physics. This book introduces these sophisticated methods in a straightforward manner. The methods are applied to several important phenomena of solid state physics which impinge on fracture mechanics: adhesion, defect nucleation and growth, dislocation emission, sintering, the electron beam effect and fractal cracks. The book shows how the mathematical models for such processes may be set up, and how the equations so formulated may be solved and interpreted. The many open problems which are encountered will provide topics for MSc and PhD theses in fracture mechanics, and in theoretical and experimental physics. As a supplementary text, the book can be used in graduate level courses on fracture mechanics, solid matter physics, and mechanics of solids, or in a special course on the application of fracture mechanics methods in solid matter physics.

The decision of the General Assembly of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics to organize a Symposium on Dynamics of Slender Vortices was greeted with great enthusiasm. The acceptance of the proposal, forwarded by the Deutsches Komitee fiir Mechanik (DEKOMECH) signalized, that there was a need for discussing the topic chosen in the frame the IUTAM Symposia offer. Also the location of the symposium was suitably chosen: It was decided to hold the symposium at the RWTH Aachen, where, years ago, Theodore von Karman had worked on problems related to those to be discussed now anew. It was clear from the beginning of the planning, that the symposium could only be held in the von Karman-Auditorium ofthe Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, a building named after him. The symposium was jointly organized by the editors of this volume, strongly supported by the local organizing committee. The invitations of the scientific committee brought together scientists actively engaged in research on the dynamics of slender vortices. It was the aim of the committee to have the state of the art summarized and also to have the latest results of specific problems investigated communicated to the participants of the symposium. The topics chosen were asymptotic theories, numerical methods, vor tices in shear layers, interaction of vortices, vortex breakdown, vortex sound, and aircraft and helicopter vortices.

Elementary vortices – those tubular swirling vortical structures with concentrated vorticity commonly observed in various kinds of turbulent flows – play key roles in turbulence dynamics (e.g. enhancement of mixing, diffusion and resistance) and characterize turbulence statistics (e.g. intermittency). Because of their dynamical importance, manipulation of elementary vortices is expected to be effective and useful in turbulence control as well as in construction of turbulence modeling. The most advanced research works on elementary vortices and related problems were presented and discussed at the IUTAM Symposium in Kyoto, Japan, 26-28 October 2004. This book contains 40 contributions presented there, the subjects of which cover vortex dynamics, coherent structures, chaotic advection and mixing, statistical properties of turbulence, rotating and stratified turbulence, instability and transition, dynamics of thin vortices, finite-time singularity, and superfluid turbulence. The book should be useful for readers of graduate and advanced levels in the field of fluid turbulence.

The JUT AMlIACM Symposium on Discretization Methods in Structural Mechanics was nd th held in Vienna, Austria, from 2 to 6 June 1997. The site of the Symposium was the "Theatersaal" of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The Symposium was attended by 71 persons from 23 countries. In addition, several Austrian graduate students and research associates participated in the meeting. In the 5-day Symposium a total of 48 papers were presented. All of them were invited and accorded equal weight in the programme. The following topics were covered: • Error-controlled adaptivity of finite element methods • Large deformations and buckling, including inelastic deformations • Inelastic brittle or ductile localization, phase transition and system failure, resulting from monotonic, cyclic or impact loading • Sensitivity analysis and inverse problems with special emphasis on identification of material parameters • Development of linear and nonlinear finite element methods for thin-walled structures and composites • Implicit integration schemes for nonlinear dynamics • Coupling of rigid and deformable structures; fluid-structures and acoustic-structure interaction • Competitive numerical methods (finite element methods, boundary element methods, coupling ofthese two methods) • Identification of material and structural data. Comments on details of the treatment of these topics are contained in the Concluding Remarks. The Editors would like to express their appreciation to E. Stein who has prepared these Concluding Remarks.

This book is concerned with the methods of solving the nonlinear Boltz mann equation and of investigating its possibilities for describing some aerodynamic and physical problems. This monograph is a sequel to the book 'Numerical direct solutions of the kinetic Boltzmann equation' (in Russian) which was written with F. G. Tcheremissine and published by the Computing Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences some years ago. The main purposes of these two books are almost similar, namely, the study of nonequilibrium gas flows on the basis of direct integration of the kinetic equations. Nevertheless, there are some new aspects in the way this topic is treated in the present monograph. In particular, attention is paid to the advantages of the Boltzmann equation as a tool for considering nonequi librium, nonlinear processes. New fields of application of the Boltzmann equation are also described. Solutions of some problems are obtained with higher accuracy. Numerical procedures, such as parallel computing, are in vestigated for the first time. The structure and the contents of the present book have some com mon features with the monograph mentioned above, although there are new issues concerning the mathematical apparatus developed so that the Boltzmann equation can be applied for new physical problems. Because of this some chapters have been rewritten and checked again and some new chapters have been added.

This book contains contributions from various authors on different important topics related with probabilistic methods used for the design of structures. Initially several of the papers were prepared for advanced courses on structural reliability or on probabilistic methods for structural design. These courses have been held in different countries and have been given by different groups of lecturers. They were aimed at engineers and researchers who already had some exposure to structural reliability methods and thus they presented overviews of the work in the various topics. The book includes a selection of those contributions, which can be of support for future courses or for engineers and researchers that want to have an update on specific topics. It is considered a complement to the existing textbooks on structural reliability, which normally ensure the coverage of the basic topics but then are not extensive enough to cover some more specialised aspects. In addition to the contributions drawn from those lectures there are several papers that have been prepared specifically for this book, aiming at complementing the others in providing an overall account of the recent advances in the field. It is with sadness that in the meanwhile we have seen the disappearance of two of the contributors to the book and, in fact two of the early contributors to this field.