Heat Kernels for Elliptic and Sub-elliptic Operators Methods and Techniques [Hardcover]

This monograph is a unified presentation of several theories of finding explicit formulas for heat kernels for both elliptic and sub-elliptic operators. These kernels are important in the theory of parabolic operators because they describe the distribution of heat on a given manifold as well as evolution phenomena and diffusion processes.

Heat Kernels for Elliptic and Sub-elliptic Operators is an ideal reference for graduate students, researchers in pure and applied mathematics, and theoretical physicists interested in understanding different ways of approaching evolution operators.

With each methodology given its own chapter, this monograph is a thorough exploration of theories that can be used to find explicit formulas for heat kernels for both elliptic and sub-elliptic operators. The authors show just how diverse those methods are.

With each methodology treated in its own chapter, this monograph is a thorough exploration of several theories that can be used to find explicit formulas for heat kernels for both elliptic and sub-elliptic operators. The authors show how to find heat kernels for classical operators by employing a number of different methods. Some of these methods come from stochastic processes, others from quantum physics, and yet others are purely mathematical. Depending on the symmetry, geometry and ellipticity, some methods are more suited for certain operators rather than others.

What is new about this work is the sheer diversity of methods that are used to compute the heat kernels. It is interesting that such apparently distinct branches of mathematics, including stochastic processes, differential geometry, special functions, quantum mechanics and PDEs, all have a common concept  the heat kernel. This unifying concept, that brings together so many domains of mathematics, deserves dedicated study.

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