Introduction to various aspects of degree theory in Banach spaces / E.H. Rothe

Since its development by Leray and Schauder in the 1930's, degree theory in Banach spaces has proved to be an important tool in tackling many analytic problems, including boundary value problems in ordinary and partial differential equations, integral equations, and eigenvalue and bifurcation problems. With this volume E. H. Rothe provides a largely self-contained introduction to topological degree theory, with an emphasis on its function-analytical aspects. He develops the definition and properties of the degree as much as possible directly in Banach space, without recourse to finite-dimensional theory. A basic tool used is a homotopy theorem for certain linear maps in Banach spaces which allows one to generalize the distinction between maps with positive determinant and those with negative determinant in finite-dimensional spaces.