Extreme Nonlinear Optics : An Introduction
Following the birth of the laser in 1960, the field of "nonlinear optics" rapidly emerged. Today, laser intensities and pulse durations are readily available, for which the concepts and approximations of traditional nonlinear optics no longer apply. In this regime of "extreme nonlinear optics," a large variety of novel and unusual effects arise, for example frequency doubling in inversion symmetric materials or high-harmonic generation in gases, which can lead to attosecond electromagnetic pulses or pulse trains. Other examples of "extreme nonlinear optics" cover diverse areas such as solid-state physics, atomic physics, relativistic free electrons in a vacuum and even the vacuum itself. This book starts with an introduction to the field based primarily on extensions of two famous textbook examples, namely the Lorentz oscillator model and the Drude model. Here the level of sophistication should be accessible to any undergraduate physics student. Many graphical illustrations and examples are given. The following chapters gradually guide the student towards the current "state of the art" and provide a comprehensive overview of the field. Every chapter is accompanied by exercises to deepen the reader's understanding of important topics, with detailed solutions at the end of the book.
Extreme Events in Nature and Society
Significant, and usually unwelcome, surprises, such as floods, financial crisis, epileptic seizures, or material rupture, are the topics of Extreme Events in Nature and Society. The book, authored by foremost experts in these fields, reveals unifying and distinguishing features of extreme events, including problems of understanding and modelling their origin, spatial and temporal extension, and potential impact. The chapters converge towards the difficult problem of anticipation: forecasting the event and proposing measures to moderate or prevent it. Extreme Events in Nature and Society will interest not only specialists, but also the general reader eager to learn how the multifaceted field of extreme events can be viewed as a coherent whole.
Extensionalism : The Revolution in Logic
This vivid and thought-provoking book by the Israeli logician Nimrod Bar-Am impels one to rethink the place of logic in Western thought. It shows that the history of logic from Aristotle to Tarski is the history of the gradual undoing of the classic conflation of logic and empirical science. It sets tomorrow’s agenda for philosophers and historians of logic and scientific method by taking as its starting point the mere fact that, curiously, ancient logic is not as formal as current literature presents it. Rather, as Bar-Am explains, modern formal logic became possible only after a series of bold criticisms of the magnificent Aristotelian system. These criticisms begin with David Hume’s declaration that logic does not sanction induction, follow on with Kant’s view of logic as an extremely limited system, and culminating with Booles’ introduction of logic as an extensional system, and Russell’s solution to his own paradox.
Expert C++/CLI : .NET for Visual C++ Programmers
C++/CLI is Microsofts latest extension to C++ that targets the heart of .NET 2.0, the common language runtime. Expert Visual C++/CLI is written by visual C++ MVP Marcus Heege, who examines the core of the C++/CLI language. He explains both how the language elements work and how Microsoft intends them to be used.
Enhanced Methods in Computer Security, Biometric and Artificial Intelligence Systems
"Methods of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Agents" contains 13 contributions analyzing such areas of AI as fuzzy set theory, predicate logic, neural networks, clustering, data mining and others. It also presents applications of AI as possible solutions for problems like firm bankruptcy, soil erosion, flight control and others. "Information Technology Security" covers three important areas of security engineering in information systems: software security, public key infrastructure and the design of new cryptographic protocols and algorithms. "Biometric Systems" comprises 11 contributions dealing with face picture analysis and recognition systems. This chapter focuses on known methods of biometric problem solution as well as the design of new models.
Engineering Mechanics ; Vol.2 : Stresses, Strains, Displacements
"This is the second of two volumes … by Hartsuijker and Welleman (both, Dolft Univ. of Technology). … The concepts and applications are well presented; applications include both basic and advanced levels. The worked out examples nicely illustrate concepts. Figures and tables are clear and help understanding of the concepts. … In summary, the book is very well written and is a welcome addition to the literature of engineering mechanics. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals." (M. G. Prasad, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (7), 2008)
End-to-End Quality of Service Over Heterogeneous Networks
The book presents mechanisms, protocols, and system architectures to achieve end-to-end Quality-of-Service (QoS) over heterogeneous wired/wireless networks in the Internet. Particular focus is on measurement techniques, traffic engineering mechanisms and protocols, signalling protocols as well as transport protocol extensions to support fairness and QoS. It shows how those mechanisms and protocols can be combined into a comprehensive end-to-end QoS architecture to support QoS in the Internet over heterogeneous wired/wireless access networks. Finally, techniques for evaluation of QoS mechanisms such as simulation and emulation are presented.
Ecological Effects of Water-Level Fluctuations in Lakes
It presents selected papers on the ecological effects of WLF in lakes, resulting from a workshop at the University of Konstanz in winter 2005. Issues addressed here include the extent of WLF, and analyses of their effects on different groups of biota from microorganisms to vertebrates. Applied issues include recommendations for the hydrological management of regulated lakes to reduce negative impacts, and a conceptual framework is delivered by an extension of the floodpulse concept for lakes. Current impacts on water use, including increasing demands on drinking and irrigation water, hydropower etc., and climate change effects on WLF make this book an essential resource for aquatic ecologists, engineers, and decision-makers dealing with the management of lake ecosystems and their catchments.
Dynamic Regression Models for Survival Data
This book studies and applies modern flexible regression models for survival data with a special focus on extensions of the Cox model and alternative models with the aim of describing time-varying effects of explanatory variables.
Drawing the Ground - Landscape Urbanism Today : The Work of Palmbout Urban Landscapes
Documents some fifteen projects organized into six thematic blocks, including such extensive projects as Amsterdam Ijburg, a design for an urban extension to Amsterdam with a total area of 450 hectares, 18,000 residences, 100,000 square meters of office space, 30,000 square meters of stores, and other facilities, and Maastricht Belvedere, a restructuring of 280 hectares of a former industrial site with 4,000 residences, 100,000 square meters of office space, parking lots, and a vehicle bridge.
Dissipative Solitons : From Optics to Biology and Medicine
The dissipative soliton concept is a fundamental extension of the concept of solitons in conservative and integrable systems. It includes ideas from three major sources, namely standard soliton theory developed since the 1960s, nonlinear dynamics theory, and Prigogine's ideas of systems far from equilibrium. These three sources also correspond to the three component parts of this novel paradigm. This book explains the above principles in detail and gives the reader various examples from optics, biology and medicine. These include laser systems, optical transmission lines, cortical networks, models of muscle contraction, localized vegetation structures and waves in brain tissues.
Difference Algebra
This book reflects the contemporary level of difference algebra; it contains a systematic study of partial difference algebraic structures and their applications, as well as the coverage of the classical theory of ordinary difference rings and field extensions. The monograph is intended for graduate students and researchers in difference and differential algebra, commutative algebra, ring theory, and algebraic geometry. It will be also of interest to researchers in computer algebra, theory of difference equations and equations of mathematical physics. The book is self-contained; it requires no prerequisites other than knowledge of basic algebraic concepts and mathematical maturity of an advanced undergraduate.
Development and evaluation of setup strategies in printed circuit board assembly
The last decade has seen a rapid extension of electronic control devices for various types of technical products. In modern electronics manufacturing, highly automated assembly systems are used to mount the electronic components onto the printed circuit boards (PCBs). Maintaining high production flexibility in order to meet the desired product variety and, at the same time, achieving high utilization rates of the capital-intensive production equipment can only be achieved by applying highly sophisticated planning and control strategies for the operation of modern placement machines. Ihsan Onur Yilmaz develops a novel group setup strategy which integrates multiple problems of the PCB assembly, especially in a medium-variety production environment. At the core of his principle approach are the identification of similarities between different types of PCBs and the generation of PCB clusters upon which group setup strategies are based. The developed setup strategies are also innovative in the sense that they integrate the optimization of detailed machine operations. This integration has not been achieved in the classical approaches which primarily rely on statistical clustering techniques.
Development and characterization of a dispersion-encoded method for low-coherence interferometry
This book discusses an extension to low-coherence interferometry by dispersion-encoding. The approach is theoretically designed and implemented for applications such as surface profilometry, polymeric cross-linking estimation and the determination of thin-film layer thicknesses. During a characterization, it was shown that an axial measurement range of 79.91 µm with an axial resolution of 0.1 nm is achievable. Simultaneously, profiles of up to 1.5 mm in length were obtained in a scan-free manner. This marked a significant improvement in relation to the state-of-the-art in terms of dynamic range.
Detection and Signal Processing : Technical Realization
This comprehensive monograph deals with detectors, signal processors and related noise phenomena. Detailed quantitative analyses are developed in a consistent format for thermal detectors, vacuum detectors, semiconductor detectors and avalanche detectors, as well as their accompanying noise currents. For signal processing applocations, the monograph treats in detail the operational amplifier, signal averagers, waveform analyzers, correlation techniques and heterodyne detection. Several original extensions are reported, especially for correlation devices and heterodyne detection with noise rejection. In addition, results of analyses are illustrated with examples of operating systems and of applications in space communication and laser radar.
Design computing and cognition 06 ; 1st ed. ; Proceedings of the 2nd International conference on design computing and cognition
This is the second volume of the new conference series Design Computing and Cognition (DCC) that takes over from and subsumes the successful series Artificial Intelligence in Design (AID) published by Kluwer since 1992. The AID volumes have become standard reference texts for the field. It is expected that the DCC volumes will perform the same role.
Data mining and Knowledge discovery handbook
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Handbook organizes all major concepts, theories, methodologies, trends, challenges and applications of data mining (DM) and knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) into a coherent and unified repository. This book first surveys, then provides comprehensive yet concise algorithmic descriptions of methods, including classic methods plus the extensions and novel methods developed recently. This volume concludes with in-depth descriptions of data mining applications in various interdisciplinary industries including finance, marketing, medicine, biology, engineering, telecommunications, software, and security.
Cyclotomic Fields and Zeta Values
Cyclotomic fields have always occupied a central place in number theory, and the so called "main conjecture" on cyclotomic fields is arguably the deepest and most beautiful theorem known about them. It is also the simplest example of a vast array of subsequent, unproven "main conjectures'' in modern arithmetic geometry involving the arithmetic behaviour of motives over p-adic Lie extensions of number fields. These main conjectures are concerned with what one might loosely call the exact formulae of number theory which conjecturally link the special values of zeta and L-functions to purely arithmetic expressions.
Control Theory Tutorial : Basic Concepts Illustrated by Software Examples
Introduces the basic principles of control theory in a concise self-study guide. It complements the classic texts by emphasizing the simple conceptual unity of the subject. A novice can quickly see how and why the different parts fit together. The concepts build slowly and naturally one after another, until the reader soon has a view of the whole. Each concept is illustrated by detailed examples and graphics. The full software code for each example is available, providing the basis for experimenting with various assumptions, learning how to write programs for control analysis, and setting the stage for future research projects. The topics focus on robustness, design trade-offs, and optimality. Most of the book develops classical linear theory. The last part of the book considers robustness with respect to nonlinearity and explicitly nonlinear extensions, as well as advanced topics such as adaptive control and model predictive control.
Consciousness : A Mathematical Treatment of the Global Neuronal Workspace Model
This book brings together the fundamental ideas of information theory and the statistical mechanics of phase transitions within the context of the neurosciences, culture, immunology and socio-psychological studies. Outlined is a program pertaining to a dynamic and semantic extension of current models for the global neuronal workspace as were previously introduced by Baars, Dretske and others.



















