Bringing together key researchers in disciplines ranging from visualization and image processing to applications in structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, elastography, and numerical mathematics, the workshop that generated this edited volume was the third in the successful Dagstuhl series. Its aim, reflected in the quality and relevance of the papers presented, was to foster collaboration and fresh lines of inquiry in the analysis and visualization of tensor fields, which offer a concise model for numerous physical phenomena. Despite their utility, there remains a dearth of methods for studying all but the simplest ones, a shortage the workshops aim to address.
Documenting the latest progress and open research questions in tensor field analysis, the chapters reflect the excitement and inspiration generated by this latest Dagstuhl workshop, held in July 2009. The topics they address range from applications of the analysis of tensor fields to purer research into their mathematical and analytical properties. They show how cooperation and the sharing of ideas and data between those engaged in pure and applied research can open new vistas in the study of tensor fields.