Integrable Systems and Applications: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at Oléron, France, June 20-24, 1988 (Lecture Notes in Physics)

In this volume nonlinear systems related to integrable systems are studied. Lectures cover such topics as the application of integrable systems to the description of natural phenomena, the elaboration of perturbation theories, and the statistical mechanics of ensembles of objects obeying integrable equations. The more physical lectures center largely around the three paradigmatic equations: Korteweg de Vries, Sine-Gordon and Nonlinear Schrödinger, especially the latter. These have long been of great mathematical interest, and also exhibit a "universality" which places them among the most frequently encountered integrable equations in the description of physical systems. Tidal waves, optical fibers and laser beams are among the topics discussed. Lectures are also devoted to multidimensional solitons, integrability of Hamiltonian systems of ODEs and dissipative systems of PDEs.