Book 16

The book is based on a seminar conducted by the author at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications during 1987-88. In this seminar, scientists from industry presented industrial problems to mathematicians, including the mathematical formulation of the problems. The book consists of twenty-two chapters, each one being independent of the others. Each chapter is based on a presentation by one of the speakers; it includes the industrial background, relevant mathematical literature, a list of open mathematical problems and, in some cases, reference to a solution or a partial solution of the problem. Most of the problems, however, are still open and they are addressed to mathematicians. The topics of the book include scattering, control and coding, conservation laws, inverse problems, network optimization, fluid problems, and a variety of free boundary problems in fluid mechanics. The book will be of interest to mathematicians seeking to work on mathematical problems which arise in industry. It will also be of interest to mathematicians and scientists who would like to learn about the interaction between mathematics and industry, what type of problems arise, how they are modelled, etc. Scientists working in industry may also be interested in the book as they discover that some of the topics dealt with are connected to their own work.

Book 83

This is the third volume in the series "Mathematics in Industrial Prob lems." The motivation for these volumes is to foster interaction between Industry and Mathematics at the "grass roots"; that is, at the level of spe cific problems. These problems come from Industry: they arise from models developed by the industrial scientists in ventures directed at the manufac ture of new or improved products. At the same time, these problems have the potential for mathematical challenge and novelty. To identify such problems, I have visited industries and had discussions with their scientists. Some of the scientists have subsequently presented their problems in the IMA seminar on Industrial Problems. The book is based on questions raised in the seminar and subsequent discussions. Each chapter is devoted to one of the talks and is self-contained. The chap ters usually provide references to the mathematical literature and a list of open problems which are of interest to the industrial scientists. For some problems partial solution is indicated briefly. The last chapter of the book contains a short description of solutions to some of the problems raised in the second volume, as well as references to papers in which such solutions have been published."