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.

FolJowing the formulation of the laws of mechanics by Newton, Lagrange sought to clarify and emphasize their geometrical character. Poincare and Liapunov successfuIJy developed analytical mechanics further along these lines. In this approach, one represents the evolution of all possible states (positions and momenta) by the flow in phase space, or more efficiently, by mappings on manifolds with a symplectic geometry, and tries to understand qualitative features of this problem, rather than solving it explicitly. One important outcome of this line of inquiry is the discovery that vastly different physical systems can actually be abstracted to a few universal forms, like Mandelbrot's fractal and Smale's horse-shoe map, even though the underlying processes are not completely understood. This, of course, implies that much of the observed diversity is only apparent and arises from different ways of looking at the same system. Thus, modern nonlinear dynamics 1 is very much akin to classical thermodynamics in that the ideas and results appear to be applicable to vastly different physical systems. Chaos theory, which occupies a central place in modem nonlinear dynamics, refers to a deterministic development with chaotic outcome. Computers have contributed considerably to progress in chaos theory via impressive complex graphics. However, this approach lacks organization and therefore does not afford complete insight into the underlying complex dynamical behavior. This dynamical behavior mandates concepts and methods from such areas of mathematics and physics as nonlinear differential equations, bifurcation theory, Hamiltonian dynamics, number theory, topology, fractals, and others.

This book starts with a discussion of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, bifurcation theory and Hamiltonian dynamics. It then embarks on a systematic discussion of the traditional topics of modern nonlinear dynamics -- integrable systems, Poincaré maps, chaos, fractals and strange attractors. The Baker’s transformation, the logistic map and Lorenz system are discussed in detail in view of their central place in the subject. There is a detailed discussion of solitons centered around the Korteweg-deVries equation in view of its central place in integrable systems. Then, there is a discussion of the Painlevé property of nonlinear differential equations which seems to provide a test of integrability. Finally, there is a detailed discussion of the application of fractals and multi-fractals to fully-developed turbulence -- a problem whose understanding has been considerably enriched by the application of the concepts and methods of modern nonlinear dynamics. On the application side, there is a special emphasis on some aspects of fluid dynamics and plasma physics reflecting the author’s involvement in these areas of physics. A few exercises have been provided that range from simple applications to occasional considerable extension of the theory. Finally, the list of references given at the end of the book contains primarily books and papers used in developing the lecture material this volume is based on. This book has grown out of the author’s lecture notes for an interdisciplinary graduate-level course on nonlinear dynamics. The basic concepts, language and results of nonlinear dynamical systems are described in a clear and coherent way. In order to allow for an interdisciplinary readership, an informal style has been adopted and the mathematical formalism has been kept to a minimum. This book is addressed to first-year graduate students in applied mathematics, physics, and engineering, and is useful also to any theoretically inclined researcher in the physical sciences and engineering. This second edition constitutes an extensive rewrite of the text involving refinement and enhancement of the clarity and precision, updating and amplification of several sections, addition of new material like theory of nonlinear differential equations, solitons, Lagrangian chaos in fluids, and critical phenomena perspectives on the fluid turbulence problem and many new exercises.

In recent years, enormous progress has been made on nonlinear dynamics particularly on chaos and complex phenomena. This unique volume presents the advances made in theory, analysis, numerical simulation and experimental realization, promising novel practical applications on various topics of current interest on chaos and related fields of nonlinear dynamics.Particularly, the focus is on the following topics: synchronization vs. chaotic phenomena, chaos and its control in engineering dynamical systems, fractal-based dynamics, uncertainty and unpredictability measures vs. chaos, Hamiltonian systems and systems with time delay, local/global stability, bifurcations and their control, applications of machine learning to chaos, nonlinear vibrations of lumped mass mechanical/mechatronic systems (rigid body and coupled oscillator dynamics) governed by ODEs and continuous structural members (beams, plates, shells) vibrations governed by PDEs, patterns formation, chaos in micro- and nano-mechanical systems, chaotic reduced-order models, energy absorption/harvesting from chaotic, chaos vs. resonance phenomena, chaos exhibited by discontinuous systems, chaos in lab experiments.The present volume forms an invaluable source on recent trends in chaotic and complex dynamics for any researcher and newcomers to the field of nonlinear dynamics.

Nonlinear dynamics has been successful in explaining complicated phenomena in well-defined low-dimensional systems. Now it is time to focus on real-life problems that are high-dimensional or ill-defined, for example, due to delay, spatial extent, stochasticity, or the limited nature of available data. How can one understand the dynamics of such sys

This book is conceived as a comprehensive and detailed text-book on non-linear dynamical systems with particular emphasis on the exploration of chaotic phenomena. The self-contained introductory presentation is addressed both to those who wish to study the physics of chaotic systems and non-linear dynamics intensively as well as those who are curious to learn more about the fascinating world of chaotic phenomena. Basic concepts like Poincaré section, iterated mappings, Hamiltonian chaos and KAM theory, strange attractors, fractal dimensions, Lyapunov exponents, bifurcation theory, self-similarity and renormalisation and transitions to chaos are thoroughly explained. To facilitate comprehension, mathematical concepts and tools are introduced in short sub-sections. The text is supported by numerous computer experiments and a multitude of graphical illustrations and colour plates emphasising the geometrical and topological characteristics of the underlying dynamics. This volume is a completely revised and enlarged second edition which comprises recently obtained research results of topical interest, and has been extended to include a new section on the basic concepts of probability theory. A completely new chapter on fully developed turbulence presents the successes of chaos theory, its limitations as well as future trends in the development of complex spatio-temporal structures. "This book will be of valuable help for my lectures" Hermann Haken, Stuttgart "This text-book should not be missing in any introductory lecture on non-linear systems and deterministic chaos" Wolfgang Kinzel, Würzburg “This well written book represents a comprehensive treatise on dynamical systems. It may serve as reference book for the whole field of nonlinear and chaotic systems and reports in a unique way on scientific developments of recent decades as well as important applications.” Joachim Peinke, Institute of Physics, Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany

Complex dynamics constitute a growing and increasingly important area as they offer a strong potential to explain and formalize natural, physical, financial and economic phenomena. This book pursues the ambitious goal to bring together an extensive body of knowledge regarding complex dynamics from various academic disciplines. Beyond its focus on economics and finance, including for instance the evolution of macroeconomic growth models towards nonlinear structures as well as signal processing applications to stock markets, fundamental parts of the book are devoted to the use of nonlinear dynamics in mathematics, statistics, signal theory and processing. Numerous examples and applications, almost 700 illustrations and numerical simulations based on the use of Matlab make the book an essential reference for researchers and students from many different disciplines who are interested in the nonlinear field. An appendix recapitulates the basic mathematical concepts required to use the book.