The Method of Normal Forms

Based on a successful text, this second edition presents different concepts from dynamical systems theory and nonlinear dynamics. The introductory text systematically introduces models and techniques and states the relevant ranges of validity and applicability.

New to this edition:

• 3 new chapters dedicated to Maps, Bifurcations of Continuous Systems, and Retarded Systems

Key features:

• Retarded Systems has become a topic of major importance in several applications, in mechanics and other areas
• Provides a clear operational framework for conscious use of concepts and tools 
• Presents a rich variety of examples, including their final outcome
• For most of the examples, the results obtained with the method of normal forms are equivalent to those obtained with other perturbation methods, such as the method of multiple scales and the method of averaging
• Explains and compares different applications of the considered concepts and techniques 
• Assumes knowledge of basic calculus as well as the elementary properties of ordinary-differential equations 

Ali Hasan Nayfeh received his B.S. on engineering science and his M.S. and PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. He established and served as Dean of the College of Engineering, Yarmouk University, Jordan from 1980-1984. He is currently University Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is the Editor of Wiley Series in Nonlinear Science and editor in Chief of Nonlinear Dynamics and the Journal of Vibration and Control.
Prof. Nayfeh is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society of Design and Process Science, and the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM). He holds honrary doctorates from Marine Technical University, Russia, Technical University of Munich, Germany, and Politechnika Szczecinsksa, Poland.
Prof. Nayfeh received AIAA's Pendray Aerospace Literature Award in 1995; ASME's J. P. Den Hartog Award in 1997; the Frank J. Maher Award for Excellence in Engineering Education in 1997; ASME's Lyapunov Award in 2005; the Virginia Academy of Science's Life Achievement in Science Award in 2005; the Gold Medal of Honor from the Academy of Trans-Disciplinary Learning and Advanced Studies in 2007; and the Thomas K. Caughey Dynamics Award in 2008.