Foundations of the Classical Theory of Partial Differential Equations [Paperback]

From the reviews: ...I think the volume is a great success ... a welcome addition to the literature ... The Mathematical Intelligencer, 1993 ... It is comparable in scope with the great Courant-Hilbert Methods of Mathematical Physics, but it is much shorter, more up to date of course, and contains more elaborate analytical machinery.... The Mathematical Gazette, 1993

1. Basic Concepts.- 1. Basic Definitions and Examples.- 1.1. The Definition of a Linear Partial Differential Equation.- 1.2. The Role of Partial Differential Equations in the Mathematical Modeling of Physical Processes.- 1.3. Derivation of the Equation for the Longitudinal Elastic Vibrations of a Rod.- 1.4. Derivation of the Equation of Heat Conduction.- 1.5. The Limits of Applicability of Mathematical Models.- 1.6. Initial and Boundary Conditions.- 1.7. Examples of Linear Partial Differential Equations.- 1.8. The Concept of Well-Posedness of a Boundary-value Problem. The Cauchy Problem.- 2. The Cauchy-Kovalevskaya Theorem and Its Generalizations.- 2.1. The Cauchy-Kovalevskaya Theorem.- 2.2. An Example of Nonexistence of an Analytic Solution.- 2.3. Some Generalizations of the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya Theorem. Characteristics.- 2.4. Ovsyannikovs Theorem.- 2.5. Holmgrens Theorem.- 3. Classification of Linear Differential Equations. Reduction to Canonical Form and Characteristics.- 3.1. Classification of Second-Order Equations and Their Reduction to Canonical Form at a Point.- 3.2. Characteristics of Second-Order Equations and Reduction to Canonical Form of Second-Order Equations with Two Independent Variables.- 3.3. Ellipticity, Hyperbolicity, and Parabolicity for General Linear Differential Equations and Systems.- 3.4. Characteristics as Solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi Equation.- 2. The Classical Theory.- 1. Distributions and Equations with Constant Coefficients.- 1.1. The Concept of a Distribution.- 1.2. The Spaces of Test Functions and Distributions.- 1.3. The Topology in the Space lSx