Swift progress and new applications characterize the area of solitons and the inverse scattering transform. There are rapid developments in current nonlinear optical technology: Larger intensities are more available; pulse widths are smaller; relaxation times and damping rates are less significant. In keeping with these advancements, exactly integrable soliton equations, such as $3$-wave resonant interactions and second harmonic generation, are becoming more and more relevant inexperimental applications. Techniques are now being developed for using these interactions to frequency convert high intensity sources into frequency regimes where there are no lasers. Other experiments involve using these interactions to develop intense variable frequency sources, opening up even morepossibilities. This volume contains new developments and state-of-the-art research arising from the conference on the ``Legacy of the Inverse Scattering Transform'' held at Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, MA). Unique to this volume is the opening section, ``Reviews''. This part of the book provides reviews of major research results in the inverse scattering transform (IST), on the application of IST to classical problems in differential geometry, on algebraic and analytic aspects ofsoliton-type equations, on a new method for studying boundary value problems for integrable partial differential equations (PDEs) in two dimensions, on chaos in PDEs, on advances in multi-soliton complexes, and on a unified approach to integrable systems via Painleve analysis. This conference provided aforum for general exposition and discussion of recent developments in nonlinear waves and related areas with potential applications to other fields. The book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers interested in mathematics, physics, and engineering.

A study, by two of the major contributors to the theory, of the inverse scattering transform and its application to problems of nonlinear dispersive waves that arise in fluid dynamics, plasma physics, nonlinear optics, particle physics, crystal lattice theory, nonlinear circuit theory and other areas. A soliton is a localised pulse-like nonlinear wave that possesses remarkable stability properties. Typically, problems that admit soliton solutions are in the form of evolution equations that describe how some variable or set of variables evolve in time from a given state. The equations may take a variety of forms, for example, PDEs, differential difference equations, partial difference equations, and integrodifferential equations, as well as coupled ODEs of finite order. What is surprising is that, although these problems are nonlinear, the general solution that evolves from almost arbitrary initial data may be obtained without approximation.

The Inverse Scattering Transformation and The Theory of Solitons

Here is a clearly written introduction to three central areas of inverse problems: inverse problems in electromagnetic scattering theory, inverse spectral theory, and inverse problems in quantum scattering theory. Inverse problems, one of the most attractive parts of applied mathematics, attempt to obtain information about structures by nondestructive measurements. Based on a series of lectures presented by three of the authors, all experts in the field, the book provides a quick and easy way for readers to become familiar with the area through a survey of recent developments in inverse spectral and inverse scattering problems.

Inverse scattering theory is a major theme in applied mathematics, with applications to such diverse areas as medical imaging, geophysical exploration, and nondestructive testing. The inverse scattering problem is both nonlinear and ill-posed, thus presenting challenges in the development of efficient inversion algorithms. A further complication is that anisotropic materials cannot be uniquely determined from given scattering data. In the first edition of Inverse Scattering Theory and Transmission Eigenvalues, the authors discussed methods for determining the support of inhomogeneous media from measured far field data and the role of transmission eigenvalue problems in the mathematical development of these methods. In this second edition, three new chapters describe recent developments in inverse scattering theory. In particular, the authors explore the use of modified background media in the nondestructive testing of materials and methods for determining the modified transmission eigenvalues that arise in such applications from measured far field data. They also examine nonscattering wave numbers—a subset of transmission eigenvalues—using techniques taken from the theory of free boundary value problems for elliptic partial differential equations and discuss the dualism of scattering poles and transmission eigenvalues that has led to new methods for the numerical computation of scattering poles. This book will be of interest to research mathematicians and engineers and physicists working on problems in target identification. It will also be useful to advanced graduate students in many areas of applied mathematics.