Bifurcation theory. An introduction with applications to partial differential equations (Q639223)

Bifurcation theory is an important branch of modern nonlinear analysis. The volume under review gives a unified presentation in an abstract setting of the main theorems in bifurcation theory, in relation with some new results and relevant applications to partial differential equations. The book covers both the local and global theory of one-parameter bifurcations for operators acting in infinite-dimensional Banach spaces, and shows how to apply the theory to problems involving partial differential equations. Qualitative properties such as stability and nodal structure of bifurcating solutions are also studied. The content of the book is divided into three parts. Part I deals with several classical local bifurcation results: the Crandall-Rabinowitz theorem, various versions of Hopf bifurcation, period doubling bifurcation, bifurcation from infinity, bifurcation for potential operators. The central tools in the proofs are the implicit function theorem and the Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction method. Part II is mainly concerned with Rabinowitz's global bifurcation theorem and a local bifurcation result for one-parameter families of potential operators. Details are given for a degree for \(C^2\)-Fredholm operators which are proper and whose Fréchet derivatives have finite spectra on the negative real axis. The local result for potential operators is proved with the help of the Conley index theory, which is assumed to be known. Part III contains applications of the general theory to elliptic boundary-value problems, free vibrations of nonlinear one-dimensional wave equations, and Hopf bifurcation for parabolic problems. It also contains a number of qualitative results on global bifurcating branches for certain quasilinear elliptic problems, for example the existence and smoothness of global branches of positive solutions, or how symmetries of the domain can be used to separate branches in the Cahn-Hilliard model. The volume under review is the second edition of this book. It contains substantially revised and new material. Among this is bifurcation with a two-dimensional kernel with applications, the buckling of the Euler rod, the appearance of Taylor vortices, the singular limit process of the Cahn-Hilliard model, and an application of this method to more complicated non-convex variational problems. The book is very well written and the many examples make it an excellent choice for a good course on bifurcation problems. For a review of the first edition see [(2004; Zbl 1032.35001)].