Stefano Bianchini Boeken

Focusing on the diverse paths to modernity in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, this book challenges the notion of Western European supremacy. It explores the region's unique trajectories of industrialization, urbanization, and secularization from the 19th century to the end of the Gorbachev administration. By presenting a nuanced view of development, it offers a fresh perspective that contrasts with the conventional binary of "two Europes," highlighting the complexity of modernity in this area.

Focusing on comparative analysis, this innovative work addresses the gaps in traditional partition studies, which often examine individual cases in isolation. By exploring multiple partitions, the volumes provide a broader understanding of the complexities and implications of partitioning in various contexts.

This volume collects the notes of the CIME course „Nonlinear PDE’s and applications“ held in Cetraro (Italy) on June 23–28, 2008. It consists of four series of lectures, delivered by Stefano Bianchini (SISSA, Trieste), Eric A. Carlen (Rutgers University), Alexander Mielke (WIAS, Berlin), and Cédric Villani (Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon). They presented a broad overview of far-reaching findings and exciting new developments concerning, in particular, optimal transport theory, nonlinear evolution equations, functional inequalities, and differential geometry. A sampling of the main topics considered here includes optimal transport, Hamilton-Jacobi equations, Riemannian geometry, and their links with sharp geometric/functional inequalities, variational methods for studying nonlinear evolution equations and their scaling properties, and the metric/energetic theory of gradient flows and of rate-independent evolution problems. The book explores the fundamental connections between all of these topics and points to new research directions in contributions by leading experts in these fields.