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This book covers methods of building explicit solutions to nonlinear differential equations. Finding out whether the chances of success are high or low can be achieved with a powerful algorithm presented in detail called the Painlevé test.

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Nonlinear differential or difference equations are encountered not only in mathematics, but also in many areas of physics (evolution equations, propagation of a signal in an optical fiber), chemistry (reaction-diffusion systems), and biology (competition of species).

This book introduces the reader to methods allowing one to build explicit solutions to these equations. A prerequisite task is to investigate whether the chances of success are high or low, and this can be achieved without any a priori knowledge of the solutions, with a powerful algorithm presented in detail called the Painlevé test. If the equation under study passes the Painlevé test, the equation is presumed integrable. If on the contrary the test fails, the system is nonintegrable or even chaotic, but it may still be possible to find solutions.

The examples chosen to illustrate these methods are mostly taken from physics. These include on the integrable side the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (continuous and discrete), the Korteweg-de Vries equation, the Hénon-Heiles Hamiltonians, on the nonintegrable side the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (encountered in optical fibers, turbulence, etc), the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation (phase turbulence), the Kolmogorov-Petrovski-Piskunov equation (KPP, a reaction-diffusion model), the Lorenz model of atmospheric circulation and the Bianchi IX cosmological model.

Written at a graduate level, the book contains tutorial text as well as detailed examples and the state of the art on some current research.

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From the reviews:

"The new monograph of the leading experts in the singularity analysis of differential equations provides a profound introduction to the Painlevé property and related topics on the boundary between integrable and nonintegrable differential and difference models. ... ´The Painlevé handbook´ gives a new insight and is really useful for anyone interesting in the theory of integrable systems." (Andrei A. Kapaev, Zentrablatt MATH, Vol. 1153, 2009)

"The main aim of Painlevé and his coworkers was to discover new special functions defined by the differential equations they found. ... Overall, the book is very well written. It is clear that the authors mean for the book to be accessible, and they have succeeded. ... Conte and Musette have written an excellent introduction to some of the methods Painlevé and his collaborators used and, more importantly, to how those methods are still relevant today. I highly recommend their handbook." (Bernard Deconinck, SIAM Review, Vol. 51 (3), 2009)

"This is an excellent monograph and survey on methods of integration of a large number of nonlinear ODEs ... . One may say that this book is an important completion of some recent monographs on the Painlevé topic ... . The extensive reference list consists of approximately 450 items. ... the authors succeed in giving a readable treatment of various methods such as the singularity confinement, the polynomial growth, etc." (Ilpo Laine, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2009 i)

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