An Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations, 2008 Universitext Series

Ordinary di?erential equations serve as mathematical models for many exciting ?real-world? problems, not only in science and technology, but also in such diverse ?elds as economics, psychology, defense, and demography. Rapid growth in the theory of di?erential equations and in its applications to almost every branch of knowledge has resulted in a continued interest in its study by students in many disciplines. This has given ordinary di?er- tial equations a distinct place in mathematics curricula all over the world and it is now being taught at various levels in almost every institution of higher learning. Hundredsofbooksonordinarydi?erentialequationsareavailable. H- ever, the majority of these are elementary texts which provide a battery of techniquesfor?ndingexplicitsolutions. Thesizeofsomeofthesebookshas grown dramatically?to the extent that students are often lost in deciding wheretostart. Thisisallduetotheadditionofrepetitiveexamplesand- ercises, and colorful pictures. The advanced books are either on specialized topics or are encyclopedic in character. In fact, there are hardly any rig- ousandperspicuousintroductorytextsavailablewhichcanbeuseddirectly in class for students of applied sciences. Thus, in an e?ort to bring the s- ject to a wide audience we provide a compact, but thorough, introduction to the subject in An Introduction to Ordinary Di?erential Equations. This book is intended for readers who have had a course in calculus, and hence it canbeusedforaseniorundergraduatecourse. Itshouldalsobesuitablefor a beginning graduate course, because in undergraduate courses, students do not have any exposure to various intricate concepts, perhaps due to an inadequate level of mathematical sophistication.

Historical Notes.- Exact Equations.- Elementary First-Order Equations.- First-Order Linear Equations.- Second-Order Linera Equations.- Preliminaries to Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions.- Picard#x0027;s Method of Successive Approximations.- Existence Theorems.- Uniqueness Theorems.- Differential Inequalities.- Continuous Dependence on Initial Conditions.- Preliminary Results from Algebra and Analysis.- Preliminary Results from Algebra and Analysis (Contd.).- Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions of Systems.- Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions of Systems (Contd.).- General Properties of Linear Systems.- Fundamental Matrix Solution.- Systems with Constant Coefficients.- Periodic Linear Systems.- Asymptotic Behavior of Solutions of Linear Systems.- Asymptotic Behavior of Solutions of Linear Systems (Contd.).- Preliminaries to Stability of Solutions.- Stability of Quasi-Linear Systems.- Two-Dimensional Autonomous Systems.- Two-Dimensional Autonomous Systems (Contd.).- Limit Cycles and Periodic Solutions.- Lyapunov#x0027;s Direct Method for Autonomous Systems.- Lyapunov#x0027;s Direct Method for Nonautonomous Systems.- Higher-Order Exact and Adjoint Equations.- Oscillatory Equations.- Linear Boundary Value Problems.- Green#x0027;s Functions.- Degenerate Linear Boundary Value Problems.- Maximum Principles.- Sturm#x2014;Liouville Problems.- Sturm#x2013;Liouville Problems (Contd.).- Eigenfunction Expansions.- Eigenfunction Expansions (Contd.).- Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems.- Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems (Contd.).- Topics for Further Studies.

Effectively organizes the subject into easily manageable sections in the form of 42 class-tested lectures Provides a theoretical treatment by organizing the material around theorems and proofs Uses detailed examples to drive the presentation Includes numerous exercise sets that encourage pursuing extensions of the material, each with an "answers or hints" section Covers an array of advanced topics which allow for flexibility in developing the subject beyond the basics Provides excellent grounding and inspiration for future research contributions to the field of ODEs and related areas