Dynamical systems that are amenable to formulation in terms of a Hamiltonian function or operator encompass a vast swath of fundamental cases in applied mathematics and physics. This carefully edited volume represents work carried out during the special program on Hamiltonian Systems at MSRI in the Fall of 2018. Topics covered include KAM theory, polygonal billiards, Arnold diffusion, quantum hydrodynamics, viscosity solutions of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation, surfaces of locally minimal flux, Denjoy subsystems and horseshoes, and relations to symplectic topology.

This fascinating look at combinatorial games, that is, games not involving chance or hidden information, offers updates on standard games such as Go and Hex, on impartial games such as Chomp and Wythoff's Nim, and on aspects of games with infinitesimal values, plus analyses of the complexity of some games and puzzles and surveys on algorithmic game theory, on playing to lose, and on coping with cycles. The volume is rounded out with an up-to-date bibliography by Fraenkel and, for readers eager to get their hands dirty, a list of unsolved problems by Guy and Nowakowski. Highlights include some of Siegel's groundbreaking work on loopy games, the unveiling by Friedman and Landsberg of the use of renormalization to give very intriguing results about Chomp, and Nakamura's 'Counting Liberties in Capturing Races of Go'. Like its predecessors, this book should be on the shelf of all serious games enthusiasts.

Based on the subjects from the Clay Mathematics Institute/Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Workshop titled 'Recent Progress in Dynamics' in September and October 2004, this volume contains surveys and research articles by leading experts in several areas of dynamical systems that have experienced substantial progress. One of the major surveys is on symplectic geometry, which is closely related to classical mechanics and an exciting addition to modern geometry. The survey on local rigidity of group actions gives a broad and up-to-date account of another flourishing subject. Other papers cover hyperbolic, parabolic, and symbolic dynamics as well as ergodic theory. Students and researchers in dynamical systems, geometry, and related areas will find this book fascinating. The book also includes a fifty-page commented problem list that takes the reader beyond the areas covered by the surveys, to inspire and guide further research.

Testing matters! It can determine kids' and schools' futures. In a conference at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, mathematicians, maths education researchers, teachers, test developers, and policymakers gathered to work through critical issues related to mathematics assessment. They examined: the challenges of assessing student learning in ways that support instructional improvement; ethical issues related to assessment, including the impact of testing on urban and high-poverty schools; the different (and sometimes conflicting) needs of the different groups; and different frameworks, tools, and methods for assessment, comparing the kinds of information they offer about students' mathematical proficiency. This volume presents the results of the discussions. It highlights the kinds of information that different assessments can offer, including many examples of some of the best mathematics assessments worldwide. A special feature is an interview with a student about his knowledge of fractions and a demonstration of what interviews (versus standardized tests) can reveal.

Foliated spaces look locally like products, but their global structure is generally not a product, and tangential differential operators are correspondingly more complex. In the 1980s, Alain Connes founded what is now known as noncommutative geometry and topology. One of the first results was his generalization of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem to compute the analytic index associated with a tangential (pseudo) - differential operator and an invariant transverse measure on a foliated manifold, in terms of topological data on the manifold and the operator. This second edition presents a complete proof of this beautiful result, generalized to foliated spaces (not just manifolds). It includes the necessary background from analysis, geometry, and topology. The present edition has improved exposition, an updated bibliography, an index, and additional material covering developments and applications since the first edition came out, including the confirmation of the Gap Labeling Conjecture of Jean Bellissard.

In 2002, an introductory workshop was held at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley to survey some of the many directions of the commutative algebra field. Six principal speakers each gave three lectures, accompanied by a help session, describing the interaction of commutative algebra with other areas of mathematics for a broad audience of graduate students and researchers. This book is based on those lectures, together with papers from contributing researchers. David Benson and Srikanth Iyengar present an introduction to the uses and concepts of commutative algebra in the cohomology of groups. Mark Haiman considers the commutative algebra of n points in the plane. Ezra Miller presents an introduction to the Hilbert scheme of points to complement Professor Haiman's paper. Further contributors include David Eisenbud and Jessica Sidman; Melvin Hochster; Graham Leuschke; Rob Lazarsfeld and Manuel Blickle; Bernard Teissier; and Ana Bravo.

The seminal formula of Gross and Zagier relating heights of Heegner points to derivatives of the associated Rankin L-series has led to many generalisations and extensions in a variety of different directions, spawning a fertile area of study that remains active to this day. This volume, based on a workshop on Special Values of Rankin L-series held at the MSRI in December 2001, is a collection of thirteen articles written by many of the leading contributors in the field, having the Gross-Zagier formula and its avatars as a common unifying theme. It serves as a valuable reference for mathematicians wishing to become further acquainted with the theory of complex multiplication, automorphic forms, the Rankin-Selberg method, arithmetic intersection theory, Iwasawa theory, and other topics related to the Gross-Zagier formula.

Although topology was recognized by Gauss and Maxwell to play a pivotal role in the formulation of electromagnetic boundary value problems, it is a largely unexploited tool for field computation. The development of algebraic topology since Maxwell provides a framework for linking data structures, algorithms, and computation to topological aspects of three-dimensional electromagnetic boundary value problems. This book attempts to expose the link between Maxwell and a modern approach to algorithms. The first chapters lay out the relevant facts about homology and cohomology, stressing their interpretations in electromagnetism. These topological structures are subsequently tied to variational formulations in electromagnetics, the finite element method, algorithms, and certain aspects of numerical linear algebra. A recurring theme is the formulation of and algorithms for the problem of making branch cuts for computing magnetic scalar potentials and eddy currents.