Topological Complexity of Smooth Random Functions

These notes, based on lectures delivered in Saint Flour, provide an easy introduction to the authors’ 2007 Springer monograph “Random Fields and Geometry.” While not as exhaustive as the full monograp

Now in a paperback edition for the first time, this second edition of Some Random Series of Functions covers random series in Banach and Hilbert spaces, random Taylor or Fourier series, Brownian motion and other Gaussian processes, plus certain types of random sets and measures. The subject matter of this book is important and has wide application in mathematics, statistics, engineering, and physics. Professor Kahane's presentation is suitable even for beginning graduate students in probability and analysis (exercises are provided throughout), as well as non-specialists in the other disciplines to which this subject has application.

This book brings together into a general setting various techniques in the study of the topological properties of spaces of continuous functions. The two major classes of function space topologies stu

Partition functions arise in combinatorics and related problems of statistical physics as they encode in a succinct way the combinatorial structure of complicated systems. The main focus of the

Partition functions arise in combinatorics and related problems of statistical physics as they encode in a succinct way the combinatorial structure of complicated systems. The main focus of the book

?Random Matrices are one of the major research areas in modern probability theory, due to their prominence in many different fields such as nuclear physics, statistics, telecommunication, free probabi

This is the second of a three-volume set collecting the original and now-classic works in topology written during the 1950s–1960s. The original methods and constructions from these works are properly

This book introduces a new approach to building models of bounded arithmetic, with techniques drawn from recent results in computational complexity. Propositional proof systems and bounded arithmetics are closely related. In particular, proving lower bounds on the lengths of proofs in propositional proof systems is equivalent to constructing certain extensions of models of bounded arithmetic. This offers a clean and coherent framework for thinking about lower bounds for proof lengths, and it has proved quite successful in the past. This book outlines a brand new method for constructing models of bounded arithmetic, thus for proving independence results and establishing lower bounds for proof lengths. The models are built from random variables defined on a sample space which is a non-standard finite set and sampled by functions of some restricted computational complexity. It will appeal to anyone interested in logical approaches to fundamental problems in complexity theory.

Approximately 1,000 problems ? with answers and solutions included at the back of the book ? illustrate such topics as random events, random variables, limit theorems, Markov processes, and much more.

The book is based on the PhD thesis “Descriptive Set Theoretic Methods in Automata Theory,” awarded the E.W. Beth Prize in 2015 for outstanding dissertations in the fields of logic, language, and info

Topological solitons occur in many nonlinear classical field theories. They are stable, particle-like objects, with finite mass and a smooth structure. Examples are monopoles and Skyrmions, Ginzburg-Landau vortices and sigma-model lumps, and Yang-Mills instantons. This book is a comprehensive survey of static topological solitons and their dynamical interactions. Particular emphasis is placed on the solitons which satisfy first-order Bogomolny equations. For these, the soliton dynamics can be investigated by finding the geodesics on the moduli space of static multi-soliton solutions. Remarkable scattering processes can be understood this way. The book starts with an introduction to classical field theory, and a survey of several mathematical techniques useful for understanding many types of topological soliton. Subsequent chapters explore key examples of solitons in one, two, three and four dimensions. The final chapter discusses the unstable sphaleron solutions which exist in several

Products of Random Variables explores the theory of products of random variables through from distributions and limit theorems, to characterizations, to applications in physics, order statistics, and

Topological solitons occur in many nonlinear classical field theories. They are stable, particle-like objects, with finite mass and a smooth structure. Examples are monopoles and Skyrmions, Ginzburg-Landau vortices and sigma-model lumps, and Yang-Mills instantons. This book is a comprehensive survey of static topological solitons and their dynamical interactions. Particular emphasis is placed on the solitons which satisfy first-order Bogomolny equations. For these, the soliton dynamics can be investigated by finding the geodesics on the moduli space of static multi-soliton solutions. Remarkable scattering processes can be understood this way. The book starts with an introduction to classical field theory, and a survey of several mathematical techniques useful for understanding many types of topological soliton. Subsequent chapters explore key examples of solitons in one, two, three and four dimensions. The final chapter discusses the unstable sphaleron solutions which exist in several

The earlier chapter of this self-contained text provide a route from first principles through standard linear and quadratic algebra to geometric algebra, with Clifford's geometric algebras taking pride of place. In parallel with this is an account, also from first principles, of the elementary theory of topological spaces and of continuous and differentiable maps that leads up to the definitions of smooth manifolds and their tangent spaces and of Lie groups and Lie algebras. The calculus is presented as far as possible in basis free form to emphasize its geometrical flavour and its linear algebra content. In this second edition Dr Porteous has taken the opportunity to add a chapter on triality which extends earlier work on the Spin groups in the chapter on Clifford algebras. The details include a number of important transitive group actions and a description of one of the exceptional Lie groups, the group G2. A number of corrections and improvements have also been made. There are many

Geometric and topological inference deals with the retrieval of information about a geometric object using only a finite set of possibly noisy sample points. It has connections to manifold learning and provides the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of the rapidly evolving field of topological data analysis. Building on a rigorous treatment of simplicial complexes and distance functions, this self-contained book covers key aspects of the field, from data representation and combinatorial questions to manifold reconstruction and persistent homology. It can serve as a textbook for graduate students or researchers in mathematics, computer science and engineering interested in a geometric approach to data science.

Geometric and topological inference deals with the retrieval of information about a geometric object using only a finite set of possibly noisy sample points. It has connections to manifold learning and provides the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of the rapidly evolving field of topological data analysis. Building on a rigorous treatment of simplicial complexes and distance functions, this self-contained book covers key aspects of the field, from data representation and combinatorial questions to manifold reconstruction and persistent homology. It can serve as a textbook for graduate students or researchers in mathematics, computer science and engineering interested in a geometric approach to data science.

This is an exercises book at the beginning graduate level, whose aim is to illustrate some of the connections between functional analysis and the theory of functions of one variable. A key role is pla

Boolean functions are perhaps the most basic objects of study in theoretical computer science. They also arise in other areas of mathematics, including combinatorics, statistical physics, and mathematical social choice. The field of analysis of Boolean functions seeks to understand them via their Fourier transform and other analytic methods. This text gives a thorough overview of the field, beginning with the most basic definitions and proceeding to advanced topics such as hypercontractivity and isoperimetry. Each chapter includes a 'highlight application' such as Arrow's theorem from economics, the Goldreich–Levin algorithm from cryptography/learning theory, Håstad's NP-hardness of approximation results, and 'sharp threshold' theorems for random graph properties. The book includes roughly 450 exercises and can be used as the basis of a one-semester graduate course. It should appeal to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers in computer science theory and related mat

There are examples aplenty in the macroscopic world that demonstrate the form of objects directing their functions and properties. On the other hand, the fabrication of extremely small objects having

Linear acoustics was thought to be fully encapsulated in physics texts of the 1950s, but this view has been changed by developments in physics during the last four decades. There is a significant new amount of theory that can be used to address problems in linear acoustics and vibration, but only a small amount of reported work does so. This book is an attempt to bridge the gap between theoreticians and practitioners, as well as the gap between quantum and acoustic. Tutorial chapters provide introductions to each of the major aspects of the physical theory and are written using the appropriate terminology of the acoustical community. The book will act as a quick-start guide to the new methods while providing a wide-ranging introduction to the physical concepts.

This text bridges the gap existing in the field of set theoretical topology between the introductory texts and the more specialised monographs. The authors review fit developments in general topology and discuss important new areas of research and the importance of defining a methodology applicable to this active field of mathematics. The concept of normal cover and related ideas is considered in detail, as are the characterisations of normal spaces, collectionwise normal spaces and their interrelationships with paracompact spaces (and other weaker forms of compactness). Various methods of embedding subspaces are studied, before considering newer concepts such as M-spaces and their relationships with established ideas. These ideas are applied to give new results pertaining to the extension of continuous vector-valued functions. Wallman–Frink compactifications and realcompactifications are also studied to assist in unifying the ideas through the use of the more general L-filter.

Over the past 25 years, there has been an explosion of interest in the area of random tilings. The first book devoted to the topic, this timely text describes the mathematical theory of tilings. It starts from the most basic questions (which planar domains are tileable?), before discussing advanced topics about the local structure of very large random tessellations. The author explains each feature of random tilings of large domains, discussing several different points of view and leading on to open problems in the field. The book is based on upper-division courses taught to a variety of students but it also serves as a self-contained introduction to the subject. Test your understanding with the exercises provided and discover connections to a wide variety of research areas in mathematics, theoretical physics, and computer science, such as conformal invariance, determinantal point processes, Gibbs measures, high-dimensional random sampling, symmetric functions, and variational problems

Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) are natural computational problems that appear in many areas of theoretical computer science. Exploring which CSPs are solvable in polynomial time and which are NP-hard reveals a surprising link with central questions in universal algebra. This monograph presents a self-contained introduction to the universal-algebraic approach to complexity classification, treating both finite and infinite-domain CSPs. It includes the required background from logic and combinatorics, particularly model theory and Ramsey theory, and explains the recently discovered link between Ramsey theory and topological dynamics and its implications for CSPs. The book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in theoretical computer science and to mathematicians in logic, combinatorics, and dynamics who wish to learn about the applications of their work in complexity theory.

The main subject of this introductory book is simple random walk on the integer lattice, with special attention to the two-dimensional case. This fascinating mathematical object is the point of departure for an intuitive and richly illustrated tour of related topics at the active edge of research. It starts with three different proofs of the recurrence of the two-dimensional walk, via direct combinatorial arguments, electrical networks, and Lyapunov functions. After reviewing some relevant potential-theoretic tools, the reader is guided toward the relatively new topic of random interlacements - which can be viewed as a 'canonical soup' of nearest-neighbour loops through infinity - again with emphasis on two dimensions. On the way, readers will visit conditioned simple random walks - which are the 'noodles' in the soup - and also discover how Poisson processes of infinite objects are constructed and review the recently introduced method of soft local times. Each chapter ends with many e

The main subject of this introductory book is simple random walk on the integer lattice, with special attention to the two-dimensional case. This fascinating mathematical object is the point of departure for an intuitive and richly illustrated tour of related topics at the active edge of research. It starts with three different proofs of the recurrence of the two-dimensional walk, via direct combinatorial arguments, electrical networks, and Lyapunov functions. After reviewing some relevant potential-theoretic tools, the reader is guided toward the relatively new topic of random interlacements - which can be viewed as a 'canonical soup' of nearest-neighbour loops through infinity - again with emphasis on two dimensions. On the way, readers will visit conditioned simple random walks - which are the 'noodles' in the soup - and also discover how Poisson processes of infinite objects are constructed and review the recently introduced method of soft local times. Each chapter ends with many e

Tau functions are a central tool in the modern theory of integrable systems. This volume provides a thorough introduction, starting from the basics and extending to recent research results. It covers a wide range of applications, including generating functions for solutions of integrable hierarchies, correlation functions in the spectral theory of random matrices and combinatorial generating functions for enumerative geometrical and topological invariants. A self-contained summary of more advanced topics needed to understand the material is provided, as are solutions and hints for the various exercises and problems that are included throughout the text to enrich the subject matter and engage the reader. Building on knowledge of standard topics in undergraduate mathematics and basic concepts and methods of classical and quantum mechanics, this monograph is ideal for graduate students and researchers who wish to become acquainted with the full range of applications of the theory of tau f

This volume collects the proceedings of the conference 'Topological methods in group theory', held at Ohio State University in 2014 in honor of Ross Geoghegan's 70th birthday. It consists of eleven peer-reviewed papers on some of the most recent developments at the interface of topology and geometric group theory. The authors have given particular attention to clear exposition, making this volume especially useful for graduate students and for mathematicians in other areas interested in gaining a taste of this rich and active field. A wide cross-section of topics in geometric group theory and topology are represented, including left-orderable groups, groups defined by automata, connectivity properties and Σ-invariants of groups, amenability and non-amenability problems, and boundaries of certain groups. Also included are topics that are more geometric or topological in nature, such as the geometry of simplices, decomposition complexity of certain groups, and problems in shape theory.

This engaging introduction to random processes provides students with the critical tools needed to design and evaluate engineering systems that must operate reliably in uncertain environments. A brief review of probability theory and real analysis of deterministic functions sets the stage for understanding random processes, whilst the underlying measure theoretic notions are explained in an intuitive, straightforward style. Students will learn to manage the complexity of randomness through the use of simple classes of random processes, statistical means and correlations, asymptotic analysis, sampling, and effective algorithms. Key topics covered include: • Calculus of random processes in linear systems • Kalman and Wiener filtering • Hidden Markov models for statistical inference • The estimation maximization (EM) algorithm • An introduction to martingales and concentration inequalities. Understanding of the key concepts is reinforced through over 100 worked examples and 300 thoroughly

This is a graduate-level introduction to the theory of Boolean functions, an exciting area lying on the border of probability theory, discrete mathematics, analysis, and theoretical computer science. Certain functions are highly sensitive to noise; this can be seen via Fourier analysis on the hypercube. The key model analyzed in depth is critical percolation on the hexagonal lattice. For this model, the critical exponents, previously determined using the now-famous Schramm–Loewner evolution, appear here in the study of sensitivity behavior. Even for this relatively simple model, beyond the Fourier-analytic set-up, there are three crucially important but distinct approaches: hypercontractivity of operators, connections to randomized algorithms, and viewing the spectrum as a random Cantor set. This book assumes a basic background in probability theory and integration theory. Each chapter ends with exercises, some straightforward, some challenging.

This is a graduate-level introduction to the theory of Boolean functions, an exciting area lying on the border of probability theory, discrete mathematics, analysis, and theoretical computer science. Certain functions are highly sensitive to noise; this can be seen via Fourier analysis on the hypercube. The key model analyzed in depth is critical percolation on the hexagonal lattice. For this model, the critical exponents, previously determined using the now-famous Schramm–Loewner evolution, appear here in the study of sensitivity behavior. Even for this relatively simple model, beyond the Fourier-analytic set-up, there are three crucially important but distinct approaches: hypercontractivity of operators, connections to randomized algorithms, and viewing the spectrum as a random Cantor set. This book assumes a basic background in probability theory and integration theory. Each chapter ends with exercises, some straightforward, some challenging.

Social (psychological and sociological) systems present considerable difficulties for modellers due to their complexity, multidimensionality, uncertainty and irreducibility. The book proposes that res

The topic of this book is the following optimisation problem: given a set of discrete variables and a set of functions, each depending on a subset of the variables, minimise the sum of the functions o