Multiple scale and singular perturbation methods (Q1918666)

This book is a revised and updated version, including a substantial portion of new material, of the authors' textbook [PM] [Perturbation methods in applied mathematics (1981; Zbl 0456.34001)]\ -- which, in turn, was a revised and updated version of \textit{J. D. Cole}'s famous text from 1968 (Zbl 0162.12602). As stated in the preface, the authors' aim is ``to survey perturbation methods as currently used in various application areas. We introduce a particular topic by means of a simple illustrative example and then build up to more challenging problems. Whenever possible (and practical), we give the general theory for a procedure that applies to a broad class of problems. However, we do not consider rigorous proofs for the validity of our results''. As compared to [PM], the arrangement of the material has changed; the organization of the book is now as follows: Regular perturbation problems (for ODE and PDE) are considered in the first chapter. Singular perturbation problems of boundary layer type and the corresponding limit process expansions are discussed in Chapter 2 for ODE and in Chapter 3 for PDE, including physical examples from boundary layer theory in fluid mechanics. Chapters 4-6 are devoted to perturbation problems with a ``cumulative effect'', i.e., to problems where the effects of a small perturbation accumulate over a long time. Chapter 4 (which, essentially, is Chapter 3 of [PM]) deals with multiple-variable expansions (now called ``multiple scale expansions'') for ODE. Chapter 5, entitled ``Near-identity averaging transformations: transient and sustained resonance'', is new; it is an expanded and updated account of many of the results from the first author's expository paper [SIAM Rev. 29, 391-461 (1987; Zbl 0645.34031)]. Chapter 6 deals with multiple scale expansions for PDE, including interesting physical examples, among others from shallow water flow and gas dynamics. Each chapter is complemented by a separate collection of references, each subsection by a number of problems to be solved by the reader. The book can be recommended as a text in either an advanced undergraduate course or a graduate-level course on the subject.