Kirjahaku

This is an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the theory of Lévy processes. This branch of modern probability theory has been developed over recent years and has many applications in such areas as queues, mathematical finance and risk estimation. Professor Bertoin has used the powerful interplay between the probabilistic structure (independence and stationarity of the increments) and analytic tools (especially Fourier and Laplace transforms) to give a quick and concise treatment of the core theory, with the minimum of technical requirements. Special properties of subordinators are developed and then appear as key features in the study of the local times of real-valued Lévy processes and in fluctuation theory. Lévy processes with no positive jumps receive special attention, as do stable processes. In sum, this will become the standard reference on the subject for all working probability theorists.

Fragmentation and coagulation are two natural phenomena that can be observed in many sciences and at a great variety of scales - from, for example, DNA fragmentation to formation of planets by accretion. This book, by the author of the acclaimed Lévy Processes, is the first comprehensive theoretical account of mathematical models for situations where either phenomenon occurs randomly and repeatedly as time passes. This self-contained treatment develops the models in a way that makes recent developments in the field accessible. Each chapter ends with a comments section in which important aspects not discussed in the main part of the text (often because the discussion would have been too technical and/or lengthy) are addressed and precise references are given. Written for readers with a solid background in probability, its careful exposition allows graduate students, as well as working mathematicians, to approach the material with confidence.