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The first edition of this book was published in 1992 by Wiley (ISBN 0 471 93609 X). Since this book is now out of print, and to answer the request of several colleagues, the authors have decided to make it available freely on the Web, while retaining the copyright, for the benefit of the scientific community.
This electronic document is in PDF format. One needs Acrobat Reader (available freely for most platforms from the Adobe web site) to benefit from the full interactive machinery: using the package hyperref by Sebastian Rahtz, the table of contents and all LaTeX cross-references are automatically converted into clickable hyperlinks, bookmarks are generated automatically, etc.. So, do not hesitate to click on references to equation or section numbers, on items of the table of contents and of the index, etc..
One may freely use and print this document for one's own purpose or even distribute it freely, but not commercially, provided it is distributed in its entirety and without modifications, including this preface and copyright statement. Any use of the contents should be acknowledged according to the standard scientific practice. The authors will appreciate receiving any comments by e-mail or other means; all modifications resulting from these comments in future releases will be adequately and gratefully acknowledged.
We have taken the opportunity of this electronic edition to make corrections of misprints and slight mistakes we have become aware of since the book was published for the first time. In the present release, alterations of the original text are mild and need no special mention: they concern typographic style (which may result in a different pagination with respect to the original paper version of the book), the way some equations are displayed, and obvious mistakes. Some sentences may even have been rephrased for better clarity without altering the original meaning. There are, however, no changes in the numbering of equations, theorems, remarks, etc..
From time to time in the near future, we plan to offer new releases in which more substantial alterations of the original text will be provided. Indeed, we consider some material as somewhat outdated (and sometimes even wrong). These more important modifications will initially be listed explicitly and provided separately from the original text. In a more remote future, we may consider providing a true ``second edition'' in which these changes will be incorporated in the main text itself, sometimes removing the obsolete or wrong corresponding portions. Please check the "version history" to keep up-to-date.
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