Growth Patterns in Physical Sciences and Biology

During the past decade interest in the formation of complex disorderly patterns far from equilibrium has grown rapidly. This interest has been stim­ ulated by the development of new approaches (based primarily on fractal geometry) to the quantitative description of complex structures, increased understanding of non-linear phenomena and the introduction of a variety of models (such as the diffusion-limited aggregation model) that provide paradigms for non-equilibrium growth phenomena. Advances in computer technology have played a crucial role in both the experimental and theoret­ ical aspects of this enterprise. Substantial progress has been made towards the development of comprehensive understanding of non-equilibrium growth phenomena but most of our current understanding is based on simple com­ puter models. Pattern formation processes are important in almost all areas of science and technology, and, clearly, pattern growth pervades biology. Very often remarkably similar patterns are found in quite diverse systems. In some case (dielectric breakdown, electrodeposition, fluid-fluid displacement in porous media, dissolution patterns and random dendritic growth for example) the underlying causes of this similarity is quite well understood. In other cases (vascular trees, nerve cells and river networks for example) we do not yet know if a fundamental relationship exists between the mechanisms leading the formation of these structures.

Dedication. Preface. Acknowledgments. Clifford Geometric Algebras in Multilinear Algebra and Non-Euclidean Geometries.- Geometric algebra Projective Geometries; Affine and other geometries; Affine Geometry of pseudo-euclidean space; Conformal Geometry and the Horosphere; References. Content-Based Information Retrieval by Group Theoretical Methods.- Introduction; Motivating Examples; General Concept; Fault Tolerance.- Applications, Prototypes, and Test Results; Related Work and Future Research; References.- Four Problems in Radar.-Introduction; Radar Fundamentals; Radar Waveforms; Signal Processing; Space-Time Adaptive Processing; Four Problems in Radar; Conclusions. Introduction to Generalized Classical and Quantum Signal and System Theories on Groups and Hypergroups.-Generalized classical signal/system theory on hypergroups; Generalized quantum signal/system theory on hypergroups; Conclusion; References. Lie Groups and Lie Algebras in Robotics.- Introduction -- Rigid Body Motions; Lie Groups; Finite Screw Motions; Mechanical Joints; Invisible Motion and Gripping; Forward Kinematics; Lie Algebra; The Adjoint Representation; The Exponential Map Derivatives of Exponentials; Jacobians; Concluding Remarks; References. Quantum/Classical Interface: a Geometric Approach from the Classical Side.- Introduction Paravector Space as Spacetime; Eigenspinors; Spin; Dirac Equation; Bell's Theorem; Qubits and Entanglement; Conclusions; References. PONS, Reed-Muller Codes, and Group Algebras.- Introduction; Analytic Theory of One-Dimensional PONS (Welti); Shapiro Sequences, Reed-Muller Codes, and Functional Equations; Group Algebras; Reformulation of Classical PONS; Group Algebra of Classical PONS; GroupAlgebra Convolution; Splitting Sequences; Historical Appendix on PONS; References. Clifford Algebras as a Unified Language.- Introduction; Clifford algebras as models of physical spaces; Clifford Algebras as Models of Perceptual Multicolor Spaces; Hypercomplex-Valued invariants of nD multicolor images; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; References. Recent Progress and Applications in Group FFTs.-Introduction; Finite group FFTs; FFTs for compact groups; Noncompact groups; References. Group Filters and Image Processing.- Introduction: Classical Digital Signal Processing; Abelian Group DSP; Nonabelian Groups; Examples; Group Transforms; Group Filters; Line-like Images; Acknowledgments; References. A Geometric Algebra Approach to Some Problems of Robot Vision.- Introduction; Local Analysis of Multi-dimensional Signals; Knowledge Based Neural Computing; Acknowledgments; References. Group Theory in Radar and Signal Processing.- Introduction; How a Radar Works; Representations; Representations and Radar; Ambiguity Functions; The Wide Band Case; References. Geometry of Paravector Space with Applications to Relativistic Physics.- Clifford Algebras in Physics; Paravector Space as Spacetime; Interpretation; Eigenspinors; Maxwell's Equation; Conclusions; References. A Unified Approach to Fourier-Clifford-Prometheus Transforms- Introduction; New construction of classical and multiparametric Prometheus transforms; PONS associated with Abelian groups; Fast Fourier-Prometheus Transforms; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; References. Fast Color Wavelet Transforms.- Introduction; Color images; Color Wavelet-Haar-Prometheus transforms; Edge detection and compression of color images; Conclusion; Acknowledgments; References. Selected Problems; Various Authors.- Transformations of Euclidean Space and Clifford Geometric; Algebra; References; On the Distribution of Kloosterman Sums on Polynomials over Quaternions; References; Harmonic Sliding Analysis Problems; References; Spectral Analysis under Conditions of Uncertainty; A Canonical Basis for Maximal Tori of the Reductive Centrizer of a Nilpotent Element; References; 6 The Quantum Chaos Conjecture References; Four Problems in Radar; Topic Index; Author Index

Leonard M. Sander is Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan. His research interests are in theoretical condensed matter physics and non-equilibrium statistical physics, especially the study of growth patterns.