Mathematics in Industrial Problems

The book is based on a seminar conducted by the author at the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications during 1989-1990. In this seminar, scientists from industry presented industrial problems to mathematicians, including the mathematical formulation of the problems. The book consists of eighteen chapters, each one being independent of the other. Each of the first seventeen chapters is based on a presentation by one of the speakers; it includes the industrial background, relevant mathematical literature, a list of open mathematical problems and, in some cases, reference to a solution or partial solution of the problem. Most of the problems, however, are still open and they are addressed to mathematicians. The last chapter of the book contains references to solutions of problems presented in the previous volume of "Mathematics in Industrial Problems, Part 2" published in the IMA series, as volume 24. The topics of the book include electro-chemical processes, polymers, waveguides, diffractive optics, semiconductors and optimization. The book will be of interest to mathematicians seeking to work on mathematical problems which arise in industry. It will also be of interest to mathematicians and scientists who would like to learn about the interaction between mathematics and industry, what type of problems arise, how they are modelled, etc. Scientists working in industry may also be interested in the book as they discover that some of the topics dealt with are connected to their work.