Rafael Ramirez Livres

The book deals with continuous piecewise linear differential systems in the plane with three pieces separated by a pair of parallel straight lines. Moreover, these differential systems are symmetric with respect to the origin of coordinates. This class of systems driven by concrete applications is of interest in engineering, in particular in control theory and the design of electric circuits. By studying these particular differential systems we will introduce the basic tools of the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations, which allow us to describe the global dynamics of these systems including the infinity. The behavior of their solutions, their parametric stability or instability and their bifurcations are described. The book is very appropriate for a first course in the qualitative theory of differential equations or dynamical systems, mainly for engineers, mathematicians, and physicists.

The notes of this book originate from three series of lectures given at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM) in Barcelona. The first one is dedicated to the study of periodic solutions of autonomous differential systems in Rn via the Averaging Theory and was delivered by Jaume Llibre. The second one, given by Richard Moeckel, focusses on methods for studying Central Configurations. The last one, by Carles Simó, describes the main mechanisms leading to a fairly global description of the dynamics in conservative systems. The book is directed towards graduate students and researchers interested in dynamical systems, in particular in the conservative case, and aims at facilitating the understanding of dynamics of specific models. The results presented and the tools introduced in this book include a large range of applications.

This book provides clear information and guidance on how to do scenario planning to support strategy and public policy. The book describes the Oxford Scenario Planning Approach (OSPA), an intellectually rigorous and practical methodolgy.