Level Set Methods and
Dynamic Implicit
Surfaces
Stanley Osher
Ronald Fedkiw
SPRINGER
Applied Mathematical Sciences
Volume 153
Editors
S.S. Antman
J.E. Marsden
L. Sirovich
Advisors
J.K. Hale
J. Keller
C.S. Peskin
P. Holmes
B.J. Matkowksy
J. Keener
A. Mielke
K.R. Sreenivasan
Springer
New York
Berlin
Heidelberg
Hong Kong
London
Milan
Paris
Tokyo
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Stanley Osher
Ronald Fedkiw
Level Set Methods and
Dynamic Implicit Surfaces
With 99 Figures, Including 24 in Full Color
Stanley Osher
Department of Mathematics
University of California
at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1555
USA
sjo@math.ucla.edu
Ronald Fedkiw
Department of Computer Science
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-9020
USA
fedkiw@cs.stanford.edu
Editors:
S.S. Antman
Department of Mathematics
and
Institute for Physical Science California Institute of
J.E. Marsden
Control and Dynamical
Systems, 107-81
and Technology
Technology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-4015 USA
USA
ssa@math.umd.edu
Pasadena, CA 91125
marsden@cds.caltech.edu
L. Sirovich
Division of Applied
Mathematics
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
USA
chico@camelot.mssm.edu
Cover photos: Top left and right, hand and rat brain — Duc Nguyen and Hong-Kai
Zhao. Center campfire — Duc Nguyen and Nick Rasmussen and Industrial Light and
Magic. Lower left and center, water glasses — Steve Marschner and Doug Enright.
Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 65Mxx, 65C20, 65D17, 65-02, 65V10, 73V
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osher, Stanley.
Level set methods and dynamic implicit surfaces / Stanley Osher, Ronald Fedkiw
p. cm. – (Applied mathematical sciences ; 153)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-387-95482-1 (alk. paper)
1. Level set methods.
III. Applied mathematical sciences (Springer-Verlag New York Inc.) ; v. 153
QA1.A647 vol. 153
[QC173.4]
510s–dc21
[515’.8]
I. Fedkiw, Ronald P., 1968–
2. Implicit functions.
II. Title.
2002020939
Printed on acid-free paper.
ISBN 0-387-95482-1
c 2003 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without
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Dedicated with love to Katy, Brittany, and Bobbie
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Preface
Scope, Aims, and Audiences
This book, Level Set Methods and Dynamic Implicit Surfaces is designed
to serve two purposes:
Parts I and II introduce the reader to implicit surfaces and level set
methods. We have used these chapters to teach introductory courses on the
material to students with little more than a fundamental math background.
No prior knowledge of partial differential equations or numerical analysis
is required. These first eight chapters include enough detailed information
to allow students to create working level set codes from scratch.
Parts III and IV of this book are based on a series of papers published
by us and our colleagues. For the sake of brevity, a few details have been
occasionally omitted. These chapters do include thorough explanations and
enough of the significant details along with the appropriate references to
allow the reader to get a firm grasp on the material.
This book is an introduction to the subject. We have given examples of
the utility of the method to a diverse (but by no means complete) collection
of application areas. We have also tried to give complete numerical recipes
and a self-contained course in the appropriate numerical analysis. We be-
lieve that this book will enable users to apply the techniques presented here
to real problems.
The level set method has been used in a rapidly growing number of areas,
far too many to be represented here. These include epitaxial growth, opti-
mal design, CAD, MEMS, optimal control, and others where the simulation