Dynamical systems and chaos (Q2637958)

This is a skillfully written guide to the fundamentals of the theory of dynamical systems and chaos aimed at a wide audience. It has six chapters and five appendices. Chapter 1 introduces basic concepts and ideas of the theory of dynamical systems and provides numerous examples ranging from the van der Pol oscillator, to Hénon map, to Lorenz and Rössler systems. Qualitative properties and predictability of various types of evolutions (stationary, periodic, multi- and quasi-periodic, chaotic) are discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 deals with the persistence of dynamical properties; the attention is focused on the response of evolutions to the changes of initial data and parameters. Global structure of dynamical systems is studied in Chapter 4, where a formal definition of the attracting set and examples of hyperbolic and nonhyperbolic attractors are provided. The boundaries of the basins of attraction are also discussed. Chapter 5 is concerned with the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theory, where the persistence of a quasi-periodic subsystem under small perturbations of the whole system is studied. Finally, Chapter 6 addresses an important problem regarding reconstruction of the deterministic evolution from its time series. The topics covered here include the reconstruction theorem and reconstruction measures, correlation dynamics and entropies, numerical estimates for correlation integrals, dimensions and entropies. Additional material is organized in the form of appendices where basic facts from topology and measure theory, miscellanea on KAM theory and bifurcations, derivation of the Lorenz equations, and a brief guide to the literature are presented. The book concludes with the sizeable bibliography and a compact index. In the first four chapters, the authors used material for teaching an undergraduate course in dynamical systems, whereas the last two chapters and the appendices contain material more appropriate for graduate courses. Therefore, the book appeals to a wide audience. It can be successfully used by students, researchers and readers with a good background in differential equations, analysis and topology looking for a concise but informative modern reference on dynamical systems and chaos.