Description
Book SynopsisThere is a resurgence of applications for the calculus of variations, such as in solid mechanics and dynamics, numerical methods, numerical grid generation, modern physics, various optimization settings and fluid dynamics. This book reflects the connection between calculus of variations and the applications for which variational methods form the foundation.
Trade Review'The current book is an attractive fresh look at the subject by a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering … Most chapters have a modest number of exercises. There is a very nice bibliography.' Bill Satzer, MAA Reviews
'This well-written book contains a large amount of material … will also be useful for scientists from application areas, in particular, those from engineering and physics.' Vicenţiu D. Rădulescu, Mathematical Reviews
'Overall, the text is clear and provides an excellent introduction to the calculus of variations for engineers and applied scientists looking for a concise exposition of the theory with numerous applications. Several historical notes appear throughout the text, which helps students understand the overall framework of variational calculus.' Joel Storch, IEEE Systems Control Magazine
Table of Contents1. Preliminaries; 2. Calculus of variations; 3. Rayleigh-Ritz, Galerkin, and finite-element methods; 4. Hamilton's principle; 5. Classical mechanics; 6. Stability of dynamical systems; 7. Optics and electromagnetics; 8. Modern physics; 9. Fluid mechanics; 10. Optimization and control; 11. Image processing and data analysis; 12. Numerical grid generation.
