Ordinary Differential Equations (Universitext)
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"A fresh modern approach to the geometric qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations... suitable for advanced undergraduates and some graduate students."The notions of vector field, phase space, phase flow, and one parameter groups of transformations dominate the entire presentation. The author is acutely aware of the pitfalls of this abstract approach (e.g., putting the reader to sleep) and does a brilliant job of presenting only the most essential ideas with an easily grasped notation, a minimum formalism, and very careful motivation." Technometrics "This college-level textbook treats the subject of ordinary differential equations in an entirely new way. A wealth of topics is presented masterfully, accompanied by many thought-provoking examples, problems, and 259 figures. The author emphasizes the geometrical and intuitive aspects and at the same time familiarizes the student with concepts, such as flows and manifolds and tangent bundles, traditionally not found in textbooks of this level. The exposition is guided by applications taken mainly from mechanics. One can expect this book to bring new life into this old subject." American Scientist
Product Description
Although there is no lack of other books on this subject, even with the same title, the appearance of this new one is fully justified on at least two grounds: its approach makes full use of modern mathematical concepts and terminology of considerable sophistication and abstraction, going well beyond the traditional presentation of the subject; and, at the same time, the resulting enhancement of mathematical abstractness is counterbalanced by a constant appeal to geometrical and physical considerations, presented in the main text and in numerous problems and exercises.In terms of mathematical approach, the text is dominated by two central ideas: the theorem on rectifiability of a vector field (which is equivalent to the usual theorems on existence, uniqueness, and differentiability of solutions) and the theory of one-parameter groups of linear transformations (equivalent to the theory of linear autonomous systems). The book also develops whole congeries of fundamental concepts--like phase space and phase flows, smooth manifolds and tangent bundles, vector fields and one-parameter groups of diffeomorphisms--that remain in the shadows in the traditional coordinate-based approach. All of these concepts are presented in some detail, but without assuming any background on the part of the reader beyond the scope of the standard elementary courses on analysis and linear algebra.In terms of concrete applications, the book introduces the pendulum equation at the very beginning, and the efficacy of various concepts and methods introduced throughout is subsequently tested by applying them to this example. Thus, the section on first integrals leads to the law of conservation of energy; the theorem on differentiation with respect to a parameter finds application in the "method of small parameters"; and the theory of linear equations with periodic coefficients merges naturally with the study of parametric resonance. This geometrical and physical specificity is made still more vivid through the inclusion of 259 line drawings and 260 exercises in which other examples are taken up.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The theory of ordinary differential equations is one of the basic tools of mathematical science. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The theory of ordinary differential equations is one of the basic tools of mathematical science. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the few original books in the area of
differential equations. In his clear style, Arnold
presents the basics of differential equations. He is more
interested in understanding the solutions than in deriving
them by analytical methods. The text is well organized and
there seem to be more figures than proofs (although all
proofs are there, it just that they do not get in the
way). A must, if you are in the area of chaos and dynamical
systems. (RM)
differential equations. In his clear style, Arnold
presents the basics of differential equations. He is more
interested in understanding the solutions than in deriving
them by analytical methods. The text is well organized and
there seem to be more figures than proofs (although all
proofs are there, it just that they do not get in the
way). A must, if you are in the area of chaos and dynamical
systems. (RM)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
77 of 81 people found the following review helpful
excellent, 1st of 2 english versions
19 Nov 2001
Format:Paperback
Be aware there are 2 versions of this book
available in English; this one from MIT press
is (contrary to one of the reviews above) is
translated from the *first* Russian edition;
there is another version from Springer-Verlag
translated from the *third* Russian edition.
They're translated by different people so
some wording etc is different but otherwise
they're similar, though not identical. The
later edition has some reworked passages
and modest amount of new material, but it's
not a hugely different book.
available in English; this one from MIT press
is (contrary to one of the reviews above) is
translated from the *first* Russian edition;
there is another version from Springer-Verlag
translated from the *third* Russian edition.
They're translated by different people so
some wording etc is different but otherwise
they're similar, though not identical. The
later edition has some reworked passages
and modest amount of new material, but it's
not a hugely different book.
Both are excellent, are are all the other
books & papers I've seen by V.I. Arnol'd.
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
wow! differential equations made appealing
20 Dec 2005
Format:Paperback
I had always hated d.e.'s until this book made me see the geometry. And I have only read a few pages.
I never realized before that the existence and uniqueness theorem defines an equivalence relation on the compact manifold, where two points are equivalent iff they lie on the same flow curve. This instantly renders a d.e. visible, and not just some ugly formulas.
He also made me understand for the first time the proof of Reeb's theorem that a compact manifold with a function having only 2 critical points is a sphere. If they are non degenerate at least, the proof is simple. Each critical point has a nbhd looking like a disc. In between, the lack of critical points means there is a one parameter flow from the boundary circle of one disc to the other, i.e. thus the in between stuff is a cylinder.
Hence gluing a disc into each end of a cylinder gives a sphere! It also makes it clear why the sphere may have a non standard differentiable structure, because the diff. structure depends on how you glue in the discs.
What a book. I bought the cheaper older version, thanks to a reviewer here, and I love it. No other book gives me the geometry this forcefully and quickly. Of course I am a mathematician so the vector field and manifold language are familiar to me. But I guess this is a great place for beginners to learn it.
One tiny remark. He does not mind "deceiving you" in the sense of making plausible statements that are actually deep theorems in mathematics to prove. E.g. the fact that in a rectangle it is impossible to join two pairs of opposite corners by continuous curves that do not intersect, is non trivial to prove.
Hence the staement on page 2 that the problem is "solved" merely by introducing the phase plane, is not strictly true, until you prove the intersection statement above. All the phase plane version does for me is render the problem's solution highly plausible, and show the way to solving it. You still have to do it. But it was huge fun thiunking up a fairly elementary winding number argument for this fact.
Good teachers know how to deceive you instructively by making plausible statements that a beginner is willing to accept. I presume a physicist, e.g., would not quarrel with the statement above about curves intersecting.
This is the best differential, equaitons book I know of if you want to understand what they are, as opposed to learn to calculate canned solution fornmulas for special ones. He even makes clear what it is that is special about the special ones, e.g. linear equations are nice not just because the solutions are familiar exponential functions, but because the flow curves exist for all time,...
I never realized before that the existence and uniqueness theorem defines an equivalence relation on the compact manifold, where two points are equivalent iff they lie on the same flow curve. This instantly renders a d.e. visible, and not just some ugly formulas.
He also made me understand for the first time the proof of Reeb's theorem that a compact manifold with a function having only 2 critical points is a sphere. If they are non degenerate at least, the proof is simple. Each critical point has a nbhd looking like a disc. In between, the lack of critical points means there is a one parameter flow from the boundary circle of one disc to the other, i.e. thus the in between stuff is a cylinder.
Hence gluing a disc into each end of a cylinder gives a sphere! It also makes it clear why the sphere may have a non standard differentiable structure, because the diff. structure depends on how you glue in the discs.
What a book. I bought the cheaper older version, thanks to a reviewer here, and I love it. No other book gives me the geometry this forcefully and quickly. Of course I am a mathematician so the vector field and manifold language are familiar to me. But I guess this is a great place for beginners to learn it.
One tiny remark. He does not mind "deceiving you" in the sense of making plausible statements that are actually deep theorems in mathematics to prove. E.g. the fact that in a rectangle it is impossible to join two pairs of opposite corners by continuous curves that do not intersect, is non trivial to prove.
Hence the staement on page 2 that the problem is "solved" merely by introducing the phase plane, is not strictly true, until you prove the intersection statement above. All the phase plane version does for me is render the problem's solution highly plausible, and show the way to solving it. You still have to do it. But it was huge fun thiunking up a fairly elementary winding number argument for this fact.
Good teachers know how to deceive you instructively by making plausible statements that a beginner is willing to accept. I presume a physicist, e.g., would not quarrel with the statement above about curves intersecting.
This is the best differential, equaitons book I know of if you want to understand what they are, as opposed to learn to calculate canned solution fornmulas for special ones. He even makes clear what it is that is special about the special ones, e.g. linear equations are nice not just because the solutions are familiar exponential functions, but because the flow curves exist for all time,...
56 of 60 people found the following review helpful
A beauty; a struggle
11 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
This has to be one of the most amazing math books I've ever read. Arnol'd seems to do the impossible here - he blends abstract theory with an intuitive exposition while avoiding any tendency to become verbose. By the end of Arnol'd, it's hard not to have a deep understanding of the way that ODEs and their solutions behave.
Arnol'd accomplishes this feat through an intense parsimony of words and topics. Everything in this book builds on the central theme of the relations between vector fields and one-parameter groups of diffeomorphisms, and the topics are illustrated (and often motivated) almost exclusively through problems in classical mechanics, most notably the plane pendulum. Almost no solution techniques are given in this book - expect no mention of integrating factors or Bessel functions. One of the main reasons that the book does so much without bogging down is that the mathematical formalism is minimal and terse - proofs are often one or two lines long, merely mentioning the conceptual justification of a result without detailed, formal constructions.
But the result of this parsimony is that Arnol'd is a very difficult book. To understand every detail and to be able to attempt every problem, I think, basically requires a math degree - lots of linear algebra (for his monumental 116-page chapter on linear systems), a solid background in analysis and topology, and a bit of differential geometry and abstract algebra are prerequsites for a full understanding. (I found the section on the "topological classification of singular points," in particular, nearly incomprehensible with my thin chemistry-major math background.) There are foibles, too, including proofs that satisfy the requirements for some theorem or definition without actually stating what theorem or definition is now applicable. One can detect some mild arrogance in places (after an arduous two-page proof, he mentions "As always in proving obvious theorems, it is easier to carry out the proof of the extension theorem than to read through it.") Also, a few typos can be found here and there, which sometimes result in confusion.
One very curious thing about Arnol'd is that my most brilliant math-major friends find it impenetrable, whereas I know biologists who got through it with no problem. So I guess that, for a mere mortal, reading Arnol'd demands a willingness to have a feel for a big picture without worrying about every epsilon and delta.
So grab a copy of this book, let it flow, and learn about ODEs. It's well worth the effort.
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