World Scientific Publishing Company Linear and Nonlinear Wave Propagation

Waves are essential phenomena in most scientific and engineering disciplines, such as electromagnetism and optics, and different mechanics including fluid, solid, structural, quantum, etc. They appear in linear and nonlinear systems. Some can be observed directly and others are not. The features of the waves are usually described by solutions to either linear or nonlinear partial differential equations, which are fundamental to the students and researchers. Generic equations, describing wave and pulse propagation in linear and nonlinear systems, are introduced and analyzed as initial/boundary value problems. These systems cover the general properties of non-dispersive and dispersive, uniform and non-uniform, with/without dissipations. Methods of analyses are introduced and illustrated with analytical solutions. Wave-wave and wave-particle interactions ascribed to the nonlinearity of media (such as plasma) are discussed in the final chapter. This interdisciplinary textbook is essential reading for anyone in above mentioned disciplines. It was prepared to provide students with an understanding of waves and methods of solving wave propagation problems. The presentation is self-contained and should be read without difficulty by those who have adequate preparation in classic mechanics. The selection of topics and the focus given to each provide essential materials for a lecturer to cover the bases in a linear/nonlinear wave course. About the Author  Spencer Kuo received BS/MS degrees from National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan, ROC, in 1970/1973, and PhD degree in 1977 from Polytechnic Institute of New York (now known as NYU-Tandon). Since 1986, he has been a Full Professor in ECE Department, Polytechnic University (became New York University Tandon School of Engineering) until he retired in 2020 as a Professor Emeritus. He initiated and ran a "summer research program for college juniors" in ECE department from 1985 to 1991. This program has gained nationwide popularity and adopted in many universities and national laboratories.His research contributions include a demonstration of photon acceleration by a rapidly created plasma and creation of plasma-crystal to trap photons. He invented various plasma torches for igniting supersonic combustor and mitigating sonic booms of supersonic-aircrafts; he invented an air plasma spray for wound-bleeding control, wound healing and dental treatment.Dr Kuo is a fellow of the IEEE. He was Principal-Investigator for more than thirty research projects awarded by the AFOSR, NSF, NASA, and ONR. He published three textbooks, 210 journal papers, and 80 proceedings articles; and holds 10 patents. He received an outstanding research award from Sigma Xi in 1990. The Chinese Institute of Engineers named him a 2005 Asian-American Engineer of the year. He was honored a "distinguished alumnus" of his Alma Mater, National Chiao-Tung University in 2013.