This book offers a self-contained introduction to the theory of guiding functions methods
which can be used to study the existence of periodic solutions and their bifurcations in
ordinary differential equations differential inclusions and in control theory. It starts with
the basic concepts of nonlinear and multivalued analysis describes the classical aspects of
the method of guiding functions and then presents recent findings only available in the
research literature. It describes essential applications in control theory the theory of
bifurcations and physics making it a valuable resource not only for pure mathematicians but
also for students and researchers working in applied mathematics the engineering sciences and
physics.
