This book contains the proceedings ofthe meeting on "Applied Mathematics
in the Aerospace Field," held in Erice, Sicily, Italy from September 3
to September 10, 1991. The occasion of the meeting was the 12th Course
of the School of Mathematics "Guido Stampacchia," directed by Professor
Franco Giannessi of the University of Pisa. The school is affiliated
with the International Center for Scientific Culture "Ettore Majorana,"
which is directed by Professor Antonino Zichichi of the University of
Bologna. The objective of the course was to give a perspective on the
state-of- the-art and research trends concerning the application of
mathematics to aerospace science and engineering. The course was
structured with invited lectures and seminars concerning fundamental
aspects of differential equa- tions, mathematical programming, optimal
control, numerical methods, per- turbation methods, and variational
methods occurring in flight mechanics, astrodynamics, guidance, control,
aircraft design, fluid mechanics, rarefied gas dynamics, and solid
mechanics. The book includes 20 chapters by 23 contributors from the
United States, Germany, and Italy and is intended to be an important
reference work on the application of mathematics to the aerospace field.
It reflects the belief of the course directors that strong interaction
between mathematics and engineering is beneficial, indeed essential, to
progresses in both areas.