Functional Analysis and Approximation Theory III, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Functional Analysis and Approximation Theory held in Acquafredda di Maratea (Potenza), September 23 - 28, 1996

During the week of September 23 - 28, 1996, the Third International Conference on Functional Analysis and Approximation Theory was held at Acquafredda di Maratea (Potenza). Earlier meetings were held on 1989 and 1992 at the same place. The Conference was organized by the Center for Studies on Functional Analysis and Approximation Theory of the University of Basilicata (Potenza), which is directed by Prof. G. Mastroianni, with the collaboration of the Departments of Mathematics of the Universities of Basilicata and Bari and the Institute for Applications of Mathematics (C.N.R.) of Napoli. The executive organizing committee was made, other than by Giuseppe Mastroianni, also by Francesco Altomare, Michele Campiti, Giuliana Criscuolo and Bianca Maria Della Vecchia. The main aim of the Conference was to promote interactions between specialists and young researchers from functional analysis and approximation theory as well as to renew some stimuli in solving various open problems arising from these fields and in showing applications to other fields of Mathematics which are closer to the applied sciences. The Conference was attended by over 190 mathematicians from 27 countries. The programme included 13 invited lectures and over 140 research talks. The main topics that were treated include - Banach spaces, Banach algebras, Fr‚chet spaces, approximation in normed spaces. - Function spaces and approximation problems. - Linear operators on Banach spaces, ergodic theory, positive operators - Semigroups of operators, Feller semigroups, partial differential equations. - Real functions and inequalities. Complex approximation. - Approximation by positive operators. Rate of convergence. - Orthogonal polynomials. - Integral equations. - Interpolation and quadrature formulas. - Integral transforms and Fourier series. - Wawelets. - Numerical analysis and boundary element methods. In this volume we collected some invited lectures together with a selection of the papers corresponding to the research talks and which have been properly refereed. Our thanks go to the referees for their collaboration as well as their accurate work. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support by - Universit… della Basilicata. - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Comitato per la Matematica. - Dipartimento di Matematica dell'Universit… della Basilicata. - Dipartimento di Matematica dell'Universit… di Bari. - Gruppo di ricerca "Analisi Funzionale" - M.U.R.S.T. 40 % - Istituto per Applicazioni della Matematica (C.N.R.) di Napoli. - Azienda Autonoma Soggiorno e Turismo - Maratea. We are particularly indebted to Ingrid Carbone, Maria Carmela De Bonis, Italia De Feis, Sabrina Diomede, Nicola Mastronardi, Donatella Occorsio, Marco Romito, Maria Grazia Russo and Woula Themistoclakis, who assisted and helped us to operate the Conference secretariat. To all of them we express our special thanks. Finally we would like to thank Professor P. Vetro and the Editorial Board of the Journal "Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo" for accepting to publish the Proceedings of the Conference in two supplements of the same Journal. December 1997 The Organizing Committe