The theory of sprays and Finsler spaces with applications in physics and biology
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The theory of sprays and Finsler spaces with applications in physics and biology
(Fundamental theories of physics, v. 58)
Kluwer Academic Publishers, c1993
Available at 28 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-301) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The present book has been written by two mathematicians and one physicist: a pure mathematician specializing in Finsler geometry (Makoto Matsumoto), one working in mathematical biology (Peter Antonelli), and a mathematical physicist specializing in information thermodynamics (Roman Ingarden). The main purpose of this book is to present the principles and methods of sprays (path spaces) and Finsler spaces together with examples of applications to physical and life sciences. It is our aim to write an introductory book on Finsler geometry and its applications at a fairly advanced level. It is intended especially for graduate students in pure mathemat ics, science and applied mathematics, but should be also of interest to those pure "Finslerists" who would like to see their subject applied. After more than 70 years of relatively slow development Finsler geometry is now a modern subject with a large body of theorems and techniques and has math ematical content comparable to any field of modern differential geometry. The time has come to say this in full voice, against those who have thought Finsler geometry, because of its computational complexity, is only of marginal interest and with prac tically no interesting applications. Contrary to these outdated fossilized opinions, we believe "the world is Finslerian" in a true sense and we will try to show this in our application in thermodynamics, optics, ecology, evolution and developmental biology. On the other hand, while the complexity of the subject has not disappeared, the modern bundle theoretic approach has increased greatly its understandability.
Table of Contents
Preface. 0. Introductory Geometrical Background. 1. Finsler Metrics. 2. Connections in Finsler Spaces. 3. Special Finsler Spaces. 4. Finslerian Physics. 5. Finslerian Biology. References. Index.
by "Nielsen BookData"