Synopsis
This book deals with waves in lattices composed of particles interacting by nonlinear forces. Since motion in a lattice with exponential interac tion between nearest neighbors can be analyzed rigorously, it is treated as the central subject to be discussed. From the idea that the fundamentals of the mathematical methods for nonlinear lattices would be elucidated by rigorous results, I was led in 1966 to the lattice with exponential interaction, which has since proved to be a subject of intensive investigation by many researchers. Therefore I have tried to describe the development of the study of this lattice. The presentation is intended to be coherent and self-contained. Chapter 1 starts with a rather historical exposition, and deals with the motion in the lattices and in continuous systems in general. Funda mental concepts necessary for later chapters, including the partic1elike behavior of stable pulses (solitons), the most characteristic entities of the nonlinear waves, are introduced. The dual transformation, which exchanges the roles of particles and interaction, is described for devel opment in the next chapter.
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