Quantization And Discretization At Large Scales

Quantization and Discretization at Large Scales

Relativity and the Question of Discretization in Astronomy

Theoretical researches in general relativity and observational data from galactic astronomy combine in this volume in contributions to one of the oldest questions of natural philosophy: Is the structure of the physical world more adequately described by a continuous or a discrete mode of representation? Since the days of the Pythagoreans, this question has surfaced from time to time in various guises in science as well as in philosophy. One of the most bitterly contested and illuminating controversies between the continuous and the discrete viewpoints is to be found in the wave versus corpuscular description of optical phenom enae. This controversy was not resolved to the satisfaction of most of its protaganists until the development of the quantum theory. However, several obscurities that still becloud the question suggest that some deeper formulation may be necessary before more satisfactory answers can be given 1. The firm establishment of the validity of quantized structure and discrete energy distributions on the atomic scale following the ideas of Max Planck, together with the apparent absence of quan tization effect in astronomical and cosmic structures leaves uncertainties concerning the role played by the scale of the observer in perceiving or not perceiving discrete distributions. Some of the metaphysical inter pretations and implications of the quantum mechanics that have been made in recent years 2 would be subject to revision if the existence of discretized descriptions were to be established in astronomical and cosmic structures.

Dynamics in Models of Coarsening, Coagulation, Condensation and Quantization

The Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the National University of Singapore hosted a research program on Nanoscale Material Interfaces: Experiment, Theory and Simulation'' from November 2004 to January 2005. As part of the program, tutorials for graduate students and junior researchers were given by leading experts in the field. This invaluable volume collects the expanded lecture notes of four of those self-contained tutorials. The topics covered include dynamics in different models of domain coarsening and coagulation and their mathematical analysis in material sciences; a mathematical and computational study for quantized vortices in the celebrated GinzburgOCoLandau models of superconductivity and the mean field GrossOCoPitaevskii equations of superfluidity; the nonlinear SchrAdinger equation and applications in BoseOCoEinstein condensation and plasma physics as well as their efficient and accurate computation; and finally, an introduction to constitutive modeling of macromolecular fluids within the framework of the kinetic theory. This volume serves to inspire graduate students and researchers who will embark upon original research work in these fields."