Geometry and Billiards (Student Mathematical Library)

Geometry and Billiards (Student Mathematical Library)
by Serge Tabachnikov

Geometry and Billiards (Student Mathematical Library)
List Price: $39.00
Our Price: $37.00
You Save: $2.00 (5%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $26.23 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Serge Tabachnikov
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-28
ISBN: 0821839195
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: American Mathematical Society

Summary of Geometry and Billiards (Student Mathematical Library)

Mathematical billiards describe the motion of a mass point in a domain with elastic reflections off the boundary or, equivalently, the behavior of rays of light in a domain with ideally reflecting boundary. From the point of view of differential geometry, the billiard flow is the geodesic flow on a manifold with boundary. This book is devoted to billiards in their relation with differential geometry, classical mechanics, and geometrical optics. Topics covered include variational principles of billiard motion, symplectic geometry of rays of light and integral geometry, existence and nonexistence of caustics, optical properties of conics and quadrics and completely integrable billiards, periodic billiard trajectories, polygonal billiards, mechanisms of chaos in billiard dynamics, and the lesser-known subject of dual (or outer) billiards. The book is based on an advanced undergraduate topics course. Minimum prerequisites are the standard material covered in the first two years of college mathematics (the entire calculus sequence, linear algebra). However, readers should show some mathematical maturity and rely on their mathematical common sense. A unique feature of the book is the coverage of many diverse topics related to billiards, for example, evolutes and involutes of plane curves, the four-vertex theorem, a mathematical theory of rainbows, distribution of first digits in various sequences, Morse theory, the Poincaré recurrence theorem, Hilbert's fourth problem, Poncelet porism, and many others. There are approximately 100 illustrations. The book is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers interested in ergodic theory and geometry. This volume has been copublished with the Mathematics Advanced Study Semesters program at Penn State.

Mathematics Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Mathematics Books
Learn to Program with Java ImageLearn to Program with Java
by John Smiley
Osborne/McGraw-Hill; Published: 2002-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $84.91
HTML: A Beginner's Guide ImageHTML: A Beginner's Guide
by Wendy Willard
Mcgraw-Hill Osborne Media; Published: 2000-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.87
Price in other shops: $29.99
Cisco(r) CCIE(tm) Lab Practice Kit ImageCisco(r) CCIE(tm) Lab Practice Kit
by Stephen Hutnik, Michael Satterlee
McGraw-Hill Companies; Published: 2001-02-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.56
Price in other shops: $59.99
Schaum's Outline of Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables, 3ed (Schaum's Outline Series) ImageSchaum's Outline of Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables, 3ed (Schaum's Outline Series)
by Murray Spiegel, Seymour Lipschutz, John Liu
McGraw-Hill; Published: 2008-08-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.02
Price in other shops: $20.00
How to Solve Word Problems in Calculus ImageHow to Solve Word Problems in Calculus
by Eugene Don, Benay Don
McGraw-Hill; Published: 2001-07-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $11.95
Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) ImageFire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition)
by Paul Freiberger, Michael Swaine
McGraw-Hill Companies; Published: 2000-11-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $169.99
Complex Variables and Applications ImageComplex Variables and Applications
by James Ward Brown
Mcgraw Hill Higher Education; Published: 2008-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.52
Schaum's Outline of Trigonometry ImageSchaum's Outline of Trigonometry
by Robert E. Moyer, Frank Ayres
McGraw-Hill; Published: 1998-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops: $17.95
Elementary Statistics: A Brief Version ImageElementary Statistics: A Brief Version
by Allan Bluman
McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; Published: 2006-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.82
Geekspeak: A Guide to Answering the Unanswerable, Making Sense of the Nonsensical, and Solving the Unsolvable ImageGeekspeak: A Guide to Answering the Unanswerable, Making Sense of the Nonsensical, and Solving the Unsolvable
by Graham Tattersall
Harper Perennial; Published: 2010-02-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $13.99
Similar Books and other products
Byrne's Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards ImageByrne's Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards
by Robert Byrne
Mariner Books; Published: 1990-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.59
Price in other shops: $21.00
Pleasures of Small Motions: Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards ImagePleasures of Small Motions: Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards
by Bob Fancher Ph.D., Robert T Fancher
Lyons Press; Published: 2002-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.03
Price in other shops: $16.95
Upscale One-Pocket ImageUpscale One-Pocket
by Jack H. Koehler
Sportology Pubns; Published: 1995-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Capelle's Practicing Pool ImageCapelle's Practicing Pool
by Phil Capelle
Billiards Press; Published: 2006-01-15; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $18.29
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Science of Pocket Billiards ImageThe Science of Pocket Billiards
by Jack H. Koehler
Sportology Pubns; Published: 1995-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.95
Cue Ball Control Cheat Sheets for Pool & Pocket Billiards ImageCue Ball Control Cheat Sheets for Pool & Pocket Billiards
by Allan P Sand
Billiard Gods Productions; Published: 2011-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.82
Price in other shops: $23.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories