An introduction to a wide range of techniques and applications used in dynamical mathematical modelling. Emphasizing algebraic concepts, the text encourages students to develop a different manner of thinking about mathematics in order to apply mathematical concepts to other fields.

This book provides an introduction to the analysis of discrete dynamical systems. The content is presented by an unitary approach that blends the perspective of mathematical modeling together with the ones of several discipline as Mathematical Analysis, Linear Algebra, Numerical Analysis, Systems Theory and Probability. After a preliminary discussion of several models, the main tools for the study of linear and non-linear scalar dynamical systems are presented, paying particular attention to the stability analysis. Linear difference equations are studied in detail and an elementary introduction of Z and Discrete Fourier Transform is presented. A whole chapter is devoted to the study of bifurcations and chaotic dynamics. One-step vector-valued dynamical systems are the subject of three chapters, where the reader can find the applications to positive systems, Markov chains, networks and search engines. The book is addressed mainly to students in Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Economics. The exposition is self-contained: some appendices present prerequisites, algorithms and suggestions for computer simulations. The analysis of several examples is enriched by the proposition of many related exercises of increasing difficulty; in the last chapter the detailed solution is given for most of them.

This textbook is an elementary introduction to the world of dynamical systems and Chaos. Dynamical systems provide a mathematical means of modeling and analysing aspects of the changing world around us. The aim of this ground-breaking new text is to introduce the reader both to the wide variety of techniques used to study dynamical systems and to their many applications. In particular, investigation of dynamical systems leads to the important concepts of stability, strange attractors, Chaos, and fractals.

This book provides an introduction to discrete dynamical systems – a framework of analysis that is commonly used in the ?elds of biology, demography, ecology, economics, engineering, ?nance, and physics. The book characterizes the fundamental factors that govern the quantitative and qualitative trajectories of a variety of deterministic, discrete dynamical systems, providing solution methods for systems that can be solved analytically and methods of qualitative analysis for those systems that do not permit or necessitate an explicit solution. The analysis focuses initially on the characterization of the factors that govern the evolution of state variables in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear, autonomous systems. The f- damental insights about the forces that a?ect the evolution of these - ementary systems are subsequently generalized, and the determinants of the trajectories of multi-dimensional, nonlinear, higher-order, non- 1 autonomous dynamical systems are established. Chapter 1 focuses on the analysis of the evolution of state variables in one-dimensional, ?rst-order, autonomous systems. It introduces a method of solution for these systems, and it characterizes the traj- tory of a state variable, in relation to a steady-state equilibrium of the system, examining the local and global (asymptotic) stability of this steady-state equilibrium. The ?rst part of the chapter characterizes the factors that determine the existence, uniqueness and stability of a steady-state equilibrium in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear autonomous systems.

Discovering Discrete Dynamical Systems is a mathematics textbook designed for use in a student-led, inquiry-based course for advanced mathematics majors. Fourteen modules each with an opening exploration, a short exposition and related exercises, and a concluding project guide students to self-discovery on topics such as fixed points and their classifications, chaos and fractals, Julia and Mandelbrot sets in the complex plane, and symbolic dynamics. Topics have been carefully chosen as a means for developing student persistence and skill in exploration, conjecture, and generalization while at the same time providing a coherent introduction to the fundamentals of discrete dynamical systems. This book is written for undergraduate students with the prerequisites for a first analysis course, and it can easily be used by any faculty member in a mathematics department, regardless of area of expertise. Each module starts with an exploration in which the students are asked an open-ended question. This allows the students to make discoveries which lead them to formulate the questions that will be addressed in the exposition and exercises of the module. The exposition is brief and has been written with the intent that a student who has taken, or is ready to take, a course in analysis can read the material independently. The exposition concludes with exercises which have been designed to both illustrate and explore in more depth the ideas covered in the exposition. Each module concludes with a project in which students bring the ideas from the module to bear on a more challenging or in-depth problem. A section entitled "To the Instructor" includes suggestions on how to structure a course in order to realize the inquiry-based intent of the book. The book has also been used successfully as the basis for an independent study course and as a supplementary text for an analysis course with traditional content.

Using discrete dynamical systems, this book introduces powerful mathematical modeling techniques, both standard analytical and modern computational, to students in mathematics, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. With minimal mathematical background, students will quickly progress from the traditional study of exponential growth and decay that simple linear equations always exhibit, to an investigation of recently discovered chaotic dynamics often associated with nonlinear systems. A wide diversity of applications demonstrates the usefulness and relevance of topics that have often been viewed as excessively theoretical or abstract, such as sequences, limits, linear algebra, complex variables, and more. By taking advantage of discrete dynamical systems, students will have the opportunity to experience some fascinating areas of mathematical discovery.

This book bridges fundamental gaps between control theory and formal methods. Although it focuses on discrete-time linear and piecewise affine systems, it also provides general frameworks for abstraction, analysis, and control of more general models. The book is self-contained, and while some mathematical knowledge is necessary, readers are not expected to have a background in formal methods or control theory. It rigorously defines concepts from formal methods, such as transition systems, temporal logics, model checking and synthesis. It then links these to the infinite state dynamical systems through abstractions that are intuitive and only require basic convex-analysis and control-theory terminology, which is provided in the appendix. Several examples and illustrations help readers understand and visualize the concepts introduced throughout the book.