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Readings

Readings are assigned in the following textbooks:

Required

[H1] Haberman, Richard. Applied Partial Differential Equations. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, March 24, 2003. ISBN: 0130652431.

[H2] ———. Mathematical Models: Mechanical Vibrations, Population Dynamics and Traffic Flow: An Introduction to Applied Mathematics. Philadelphia, PA: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1998. ISBN: 0898714087.

For Further Reading

[D] Debnath, Lokenath. Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers. Boston, MA: Birkhäuser, 1997. ISBN: 0817639020.

[W] Whitham, Gerald Beresford. Linear and Nonlinear Waves. New York, NY: Wiley, 1974.

[B] Barenblatt, Grigory Isaakovich. Scaling, Self-Similarity, and Intermediate Asymptotics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 0521435161 (hardcover), 0521435226 (pbk).

[LS] Lin, Chia-Ch'iao, and L. A. Segel. Mathematics Applied to Deterministic Problems in the Natural Sciences. Material on elasticity by G. H. Handelman. Philadelphia, PA: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 1988. ISBN: 0898712297.

[C] Crank, John. The Mathematics of Diffusion. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1979, c1975, (1986 printing). ISBN: 0198534116. On reserve at the Science Library and math reading room.

Readings by Session


LEC # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction: Dense Granular Flow in a Silo. LS, Sections 1.1 and 3.3.
2-3 Linear Waves: PDE for Waves in an Elastic Medium, Characteristics, d'Alembert's Solution H1, Sections 4.2 and 12.2-12.5.
4-13 Nonlinear Kinematic Waves: Lighthill-Whitham Theory of Traffic Flow, Density Waves, General Method of Characteristics, Hodograph Method, Expansion Fans, Wave Breaking, Shocks

River Waves, Gas Compression Waves, Shallow Water Waves
H1, Section 12.6.

H2, pp. 56-86.
14-16 Dispersive Waves: Fourier transform, group velocity and caustics

Envelope Equations, KdV Equation, Solitons
H1, Sections 14.2 and 14.6.

H1, Sections 14.7.1-3.
17-18 Linear Diffusion: Green function for the Diffusion Equation, Some Fourier Analysis

Similarity Solutions
H1, Section 10.4.
19-25 Nonlinear Diffusion: Burgers Equation and Shock Structure, Cole-Hopf Transformation

Porous Medium Equation, Similarity Solution

Regular and Singular Perturbations, Boundary Layers, Matched Asymptotic Expansions

Nernst-Planck Equations
LS, Section 9.