Variational Methods

This, the fourth edition of Stuwe’s book on the calculus of variations, surveys new developments in this exciting field. It also gives a concise introduction to variational methods. In particular it includes the proof for the convergence of the Yamabe flow and a detailed treatment of the phenomenon of blow-up. Recently discovered results for backward bubbling in the heat flow for harmonic maps or surfaces are discussed. A number of changes have been made throughout the text.

Michael Struwe is full Professor of Mathematics at ETH Zurich.

Prof. Struwe was born on October 6, 1955 in Wuppertal, Germany. He studied mathematics at the University of Bonn. After receiving his doctorate in 1980, he was a member of the scientific staff in the special research sector 72 of the German research foundation and later an assistant at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn. He spent extended research visits in Paris and at the ETH Zurich. In 1984 he was awarded the Felix Hausdorff Prize of the University of Bonn.

On April 1, 1986 Michael Struwe was appointed assistant professor, on October 1, 1990 associate professor and in 1993 he became full Professor of Mathematics at the ETH Zurich. From October, 2002 to September, 2004 he served as head of the ETH Mathematics Department. His research focuses on non-linear partial differential equations and the calculus of variations as well as their applications in mathematical physics and differential geometry.

In 2006 he received the Credit Suisse Award For Best Teaching.

He is editor of the series «Lectures in Mathematics, ETH Zürich» and co-editor of the series «Zurich Lectures in Advanced Mathematics»; moreover, he is co-editor of the journals «Calculus of Variations», «Duke Mathematical Journal», and «International Mathematical Research Notices».