April 1, 1998
Kanwal Authors New Book
Ram P. Kanwal, professor emeritus of mathematics, has written the second edition of a book titled Generalized Functions, Theory and Technique, published by the Birkhauser publishing company.
The book contains both the theory and applications of generalized functions, illustrated by a large variety of examples. There has been tremendous growth in this subject since the book's first edition, which was published in 1983, and Kanwal has added new concepts and reorganized material to improve the logical flow of ideas. Some of the book's topics include the Fourier analysis, which is used extensively in many fields of scientific activity; partial differential equations, one of the main applications of generalized functions; and a newly-formatted chapter that explains the interplay between the theories of moments, asymptotics, and singular perturbations.
"Almost all the chapters have been revised, the bibliography has been enlarged considerably, and the set of examples has been expanded," Kanwal says. "The material can be understood without the knowledge of advanced mathematics and remains accessible to senior undergraduate and graduate students in the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences."
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