This book is devoted to the mathematical optimization theory and
modeling techniques that recently have been applied to the problem of
controlling the shape and intensity of the power density distribution in
the core of large nuclear reactors. The book has been prepared with the
following purposes in mind: 1. To provide, in a condensed manner, the
background preparation on reactor kinetics required for a comprehensive
description of the main problems encountered in designing spatial
control systems for nuclear reactor cores. 2. To present the work that
has already been done on this subject and provide the basic mathematical
tools required for a full understand- ing of the different methods
proposed in the literature. 3. To stimulate further work in this
challenging area by weighting the advantages and disadvantages of the
existing techniques and evaluating their effectiveness and
applicability. In addition to coverage of the standard topics on the
subject of optimal control for distributed parametersystems, the book
includes, at amathemati- cal level suitable for graduate students in
engineering, discussions of con- ceptsoffunctional analysis, the
representation theory ofgroups, and integral equations. Although these
topics constitute a requisite for a full understanding of the new
developments in the area of reactor modeling and control, they are
seidom treated together in a single book and, when they are, their
presenta- tion isoften directed to the mathematician.They are thus
relatively unknown to the engineering community.