It was mainly during the last two decades that the theory of homogenization or averaging of partial differential equations took shape as a distinct mathe- matical discipline. This theory has a lot of important applications in mechanics of composite and perforated materials, filtration, disperse media, and in many other branches of physics, mechanics and modern technology. There is a vast literature on the subject. The term averaging has been usually associated with the methods of non- linear mechanics and ordinary differential equations developed in the works of Poincare, Van Der Pol, Krylov, Bogoliubov, etc. For a long time, after the works of Maxwell and Rayleigh, homogeniza- tion problems for* partial differential equations were being mostly considered by specialists in physics and mechanics, and were staying beyond the scope of mathematicians. A great deal of attention was given to the so called disperse media, which, in the simplest case, are two-phase media formed by the main homogeneous material containing small foreign particles (grains, inclusions). Such two-phase bodies, whose size is considerably larger than that of each sep- arate inclusion, have been discovered to possess stable physical properties (such as heat transfer, electric conductivity, etc.) which differ from those of the con- stituent phases. For this reason, the word homogenized, or effective, is used in relation to these characteristics. An enormous number of results, approximation formulas, and estimates have been obtained in connection with such problems as electromagnetic wave scattering on small particles, effective heat transfer in two-phase media, etc.

Table of Contents:
1 Homogenization of Second Order Elliptic Operators with Periodic Coefficients.- 1.1 Preliminaries.- 1.2 Setting of the Homogenization Problem.- 1.3 Problems of Justification; Further Examples.- 1.4 The Method of Asymptotic Expansions.- 1.5 Explicit Formulas for the Homogenized Matrix in the Two-Dimensional Case.- 1.6 Estimates and Approximations for the Homogenized Matrix.- 1.7 The Rayleigh-Maxwell Formulas.- Comments.- 2 An Introduction to the Problems of Diffusion.- 2.1 Homogenization of Parabolic Operators.- 2.2 Homogenization and the Central Limit Theorem.- 2.3 Stabilization of Solutions of Parabolic Equations.- 2.4 Diffusion in a Solenoidal Flow.- 2.5 Diffusion in an Arbitrary Periodic Flow.- 2.6 Spectral Approach to the Asymptotic Problems of Diffusion.- 2.7 Diffusion with Absorption.- Comments.- 3 Elementary Soft and Stiff Problems.- 3.1 Homogenization of Soft Inclusions.- 3.2 Homogenization of Stiff Inclusions.- 3.3 Virtual Mass.- 3.4 The Method of Asymptotic Expansions.- 3.5 On a Dense Cubic Packing of Balls.- 3.6 The Dirichlet Problem in a Perforated Domain.- Comments.- 4 Homogenization of Maxwell Equations.- 4.1 Preliminary Results.- 4.2 A Lemma on Compensated Compactness.- 4.3 Homogenization.- 4.4 The Problem of an Artificial Dielectric.- Comments.- 5 G-Convergence of Differential Operators.- 5.1 Basic Properties of G-Convergence.- 5.2 A Sufficient Condition of G-Convergence.- 5.3 G-Convergence of Abstract Operators.- 5.4 Compactness Theorem and Its Implications.- 5.5 G-Convergence and Duality.- 5.6 Stratified Media.- 5.7 G-Convergence of Divergent Elliptic Operators of Higher Order.- Comments.- 6 Estimates for the Homogenized Matrix.- 6.1 The Hashin-Shtrikman Bounds.- 6.2 Attainability of Bounds. The Hashin Structure.- 6.3 Extremum Principles.- 6.4 The Variational Method.- 6.5 G-Limit Media; Attainment of the Bounds on Stratified Composites.- 6.6 The Method of Quasi-Convexity.- 6.7 The Method of Null Lagrangians.- 6.8 The Method of Integral Representation.- Comments.- 7 Homogenization of Elliptic Operators with Random Coefficients.- 7.1 Probabilistic Description of Non-Homogeneous Media.- 7.2 Homogenization.- 7.3 Explicit Formulas in Two-Dimensional Problems.- 7.4 Homogenization of Almost-Periodic Operators.- 7.5 The General Theorem of Individual Homogenization.- Comments.- 8 Homogenization in Perforated Random Domains.- 8.1 Homogenization.- 8.2 Remarks on Positive Definiteness of the Homogenized Matrix.- 8.3 Central Limit Theorem.- 8.4 Disperse Media.- 8.5 Criterion of Pointwise Stabilization; A Refinement of the Central Limit Theorem.- 8.6 Stiff Problem for a Random Spherical Structure.- 8.7 Random Spherical Structure with Small Concentration.- Comments.- 9 Homogenization and Percolation.- 9.1 Existence of the Effective Conductivity.- 9.2 Random Structure of Chess-Board Type.- 9.3 The Method of Percolation Channels.- 9.4 Conductivity Threshold for a Random Cubic Structure in ?3.- 9.5 Resistance Threshold for a Random Cubic Structure in ?3.- 9.6 Central Limit Theorem for Random Motion in an Infinite Two-Dimensional Cluster.- Comments.- 10 Some Asymptotic Problems for a Non-Divergent Parabolic Equation with Random Stationary Coefficients.- 10.1 Preliminary Remarks.- 10.2 Auxiliary Equation A*p = 0 on a Probability Space.- 10.3 Homogenization and the Central Limit Theorem.- 10.4 Criterion of Pointwise Stabilization.- Comments.- 11 Spectral Problems in Homogenization Theory.- 11.1 Spectral Properties of Abstract Operators Forming a Sequence.- 11.2 On the Spectrum of G-Convergent Operators.- 11.3 The Sturm-Liouville Problem.- 11.4 Spectral Properties of Stratified Media.- 11.5 Density of States for Random Elliptic Operators.- 11.6 Asymptotics of the Density of States.- Comments.- 12 Homogenization in Linear Elasticity.- 12.1 Some General Facts from the Theory of Elasticity.- 12.2 G-Convergence of Elasticity Tensors.- 12.3 Homogenization of Periodic and Random Tensors.- 12.4 Fourth Order Operators.- 12.5 Linear Problems of Incompressible Elasticity.- 12.6 Explicit Formulas for Two-Dimensional Incompressible Composites.- 12.7 Some Questions of Analysis on a Probability Space.- 13 Estimates for the Homogenized Elasticity Tensor.- 13.1 Basic Estimates.- 13.2 The Variational Method.- 13.3 Two-Phase Media; Attainability of Bounds on Stratified Composites.- 13.4 On the Hashin Structure.- 13.5 Disperse Media with Inclusions of Small Concentration.- 13.6 Fourth Order Operators; Systems of Stokes Type.- Comments.- 14 Elements of the Duality Theory.- 14.1 Convex Functions.- 14.2 Integral Functionals.- 14.3 On Two Types of Boundary Value Problems.- 14.4 Dual Boundary Value Problems.- 14.5 Extremal Relations.- 14.6 Examples of Regular Lagrangians.- Comments.- 15 Homogenization of Nonlinear Variational Problems.- 15.1 Random Lagrangians.- 15.2 Two Principal Lemmas.- 15.3 Homogenization Theorems.- 15.4 Applications to Boundary Value Problems in Perforated Domains.- 15.5 Chess Lagrangians; Dychne's Formula.- Comments.- 16 Passing to the Limit in Nonlinear Variational Problems.- 16.1 Definition of ?-Convergence of Lagrangians; Formulation of the Compactness Theorems.- 16.2 Convergence of Energies and Minimizers.- 16.3 Proof of the Compactness Theorems.- 16.4 Two Examples: Ulam's Problem; Homogenization Problem.- 16.5 Compactness of Lagrangians in Plasticity Problems; Application to Ll-Closedness.- 16.6 Remarks on Non-Convex Functionals.- Comments.- 17 Basic Properties of Abstract ?-Convergence.- 17.1 ?-Convergence of Functions on a Metric Space.- 17.2 ?-Convergence of Functions Defined in a Banach Space.- 17.3 ?-Convergence of Integral Functionals.- Comments.- 18 Limit Load.- 18.1 The Notion of Limit Load.- 18.2 Dual Definition of Limit Load.- 18.3 Equivalence Principle.- 18.4 Convergence of Limit Loads in Homogenization Problems.- 18.5 Surface Loads.- 18.6 Representation of the Functional $$\bar F$$ on BV0.- 18.7 ?-Convergence in BV0.- Comments.- Appendix A. Proof of the Nash-Aronson Estimate.- Appendix C. A Property of Bounded Lipschitz Domains.- References.