Calculus of Variations and Partial Differential Equations: Topics on Geometrical Evolution Problems and Degree Theory (Softcover Reprint of the OriginPaperback - Softcover Reprint of the Original 1st 2000, 24 January 2000

At the summer school in Pisa in September 1996, Luigi Ambrosio and Norman Dancer each gave a course on the geometric problem of evolution of a surface by mean curvature, and degree theory with applications to PDEs respectively. This self-contained presentation accessible to PhD students bridged the gap between standard courses and advanced research on these topics. The resulting book is divided accordingly into 2 parts, and neatly illustrates the 2-way interaction of problems and methods. Each of the courses is augmented and complemented by additional short chapters by other authors describing current research problems and results.