This is a reprinting of a book originally
published in 1978. At that time it was the first book on the subject
of homogenization, which is the asymptotic analysis of partial
differential equations with rapidly oscillating coefficients, and as
such it sets the stage for what problems to consider and what methods
to use, including probabilistic methods. At the time the book was
written the use of asymptotic expansions with multiple scales was new,
especially their use as a theoretical tool, combined with energy
methods and the construction of test functions for analysis with weak
convergence methods. Before this book, multiple scale methods were
primarily used for non-linear oscillation problems in the applied
mathematics community, not for analyzing spatial oscillations as in
homogenization.
In the current printing a number of minor corrections have been
made, and the bibliography was significantly expanded to include some
of the most important recent references. This book gives systematic
introduction of multiple scale methods for partial differential
equations, including their original use for rigorous mathematical
analysis in elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic problems, and with the
use of probabilistic methods when appropriate. The book continues to
be interesting and useful to readers of different backgrounds, both
from pure and applied mathematics, because of its informal style of
introducing the multiple scale methodology and the detailed
proofs.
Readership
Graduate students and research mathematicians interested in
asymptotic and probabilistic methods in the analysis of partial differential
equations.