Topological Complexity of Smooth Random Functions

Geared toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this introductory text surveys random variables, conditional probability and expectation, characteristic functions, infinite sequences of r

Bird song is one of the most remarkable and impressive sounds in the natural world, and has inspired not only students of natural history, but also great writers, poets and composers. Extensively updated from the first edition, the main thrust of this book is to suggest that the two main functions of song are attracting a mate and defending territory. It shows how this evolutionary pressure has led to the amazing variety and complexity we see in the songs of different species throughout the world. Writing primarily for students and researchers in animal behavior, the authors review over 1000 scientific papers and reveal how scientists are beginning to unravel and understand how and why birds communicate with the elaborate vocalizations we call song. Highly illustrated throughout and written in straightforward language, Bird Song also holds appeal for amateur ornithologists with some knowledge of biology.

Markov chains are an important idea, related to random walks, which crops up widely in applied stochastic analysis. They are used, for example, in performance modelling and evaluation of computer networks, queuing networks, and telecommunication systems. The main point of the present book is to provide methods, based on the construction of Lyapunov functions, of determining when a Markov chain is ergodic, null recurrent, or transient. These methods can also be extended to the study of questions of stability. Of particular concern are reflected random walks and reflected Brownian motion. The authors provide not only a self-contained introduction to the theory but also details of how the required Lyapunov functions are constructed in various situations.

Property (T) is a rigidity property for topological groups, first formulated by D. Kazhdan in the mid 1960's with the aim of demonstrating that a large class of lattices are finitely generated. Later developments have shown that Property (T) plays an important role in an amazingly large variety of subjects, including discrete subgroups of Lie groups, ergodic theory, random walks, operator algebras, combinatorics, and theoretical computer science. This monograph offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory. It describes the two most important points of view on Property (T): the first uses a unitary group representation approach, and the second a fixed point property for affine isometric actions. Via these the authors discuss a range of important examples and applications to several domains of mathematics. A detailed appendix provides a systematic exposition of parts of the theory of group representations that are used to formulate and develop Property (T).

Orthonormal Systems and Banach Space Geometry describes the interplay between orthonormal expansions and Banach space geometry. Using harmonic analysis as a starting platform, classical inequalities and special functions are used to study orthonormal systems leading to an understanding of the advantages of systems consisting of characters on compact Abelian groups. Probabilistic concepts such as random variables and martingales are employed and Ramsey's theorem is used to study the theory of super-reflexivity. The text yields a detailed insight into concepts including type and co-type of Banach spaces, B-convexity, super-reflexivity, the vector-valued Fourier transform, the vector-valued Hilbert transform and the unconditionality property for martingale differences (UMD). A long list of unsolved problems is included as a starting point for research. This book should be accessible to graduate students and researchers with some basic knowledge of Banach space theory, real analysis, proba

Family and the Law in Eighteenth-Century Fiction offers challenging interpretations of the public and private faces of individualism in the eighteenth-century English novel. John P. Zomchick begins by surveying the social, historical and ideological functions of law and the family in England's developing market economy. He goes on to examine in detail their part in the fortunes and misfortunes of the protagonists in Defoe's Roxana, Richardson's Clarissa, Smollett's Roderick Random, Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield and Godwin's Caleb Williams. Zomchick reveals in these novels an attempt to produce a 'juridical subject': a representation of the individual identified with the principles and aims of the law, and motivated by an inherent need for affection and community fulfilled by the family. Their ambivalence towards that formulation indicates a nostalgia for less competitive social relations, and an emergent liberal critique of the law's operation in the service of society's elites.

Designed to work as a reference and as a supplement to an advanced course on dynamical systems, this book presents a self-contained and comprehensive account of modern smooth ergodic theory. Among other things, this provides a rigorous mathematical foundation for the phenomenon known as deterministic chaos - the appearance of 'chaotic' motions in pure deterministic dynamical systems. A sufficiently complete description of topological and ergodic properties of systems exhibiting deterministic chaos can be deduced from relatively weak requirements on their local behavior known as nonuniform hyperbolicity conditions. Nonuniform hyperbolicity theory is an important part of the general theory of dynamical systems. Its core is the study of dynamical systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents both conservative and dissipative, in addition to cocycles and group actions. The results of this theory are widely used in geometry (e.g., geodesic flows and Teichmüller flows), in rigidity theory, in the

The behaviour of vanishing cycles is the cornerstone for understanding the geometry and topology of families of hypersurfaces, usually regarded as singular fibrations. This self-contained tract proposes a systematic geometro-topological approach to vanishing cycles, especially those appearing in non-proper fibrations, such as the fibration defined by a polynomial function. Topics which have been the object of active research over the past 15 years, such as holomorphic germs, polynomial functions, and Lefschetz pencils on quasi-projective spaces, are here shown in a new light: conceived as aspects of a single theory with vanishing cycles at its core. Throughout the book the author presents the current state of the art. Transparent proofs are provided so that non-specialists can use this book as an introduction, but all researchers and graduate students working in differential and algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, and singularity theory will find this book of great use.

The origins of the word problem are in group theory, decidability and complexity. But through the vision of M. Gromov and the language of filling functions, the topic now impacts the world of large-sc

Cryptography is concerned with the conceptualization, definition and construction of computing systems that address security concerns. The design of cryptographic systems must be based on firm foundations. This book presents a rigorous and systematic treatment of the foundational issues: defining cryptographic tasks and solving new cryptographic problems using existing tools. It focuses on the basic mathematical tools: computational difficulty (one-way functions), pseudorandomness and zero-knowledge proofs. The emphasis is on the clarification of fundamental concepts and on demonstrating the feasibility of solving cryptographic problems, rather than on describing ad-hoc approaches. The book is suitable for use in a graduate course on cryptography and as a reference book for experts. The author assumes basic familiarity with the design and analysis of algorithms; some knowledge of complexity theory and probability is also useful.

This 2007 book provides a systematic and self-contained account of the fast-developing theory of complex social networks. Social networks are central to the understanding of most socio-economic phenomena in the modern world. The classical approach to studying them relies on a methodology that abstracts from their size and complexity. In contrast, the approach taken in this book keeps complexity at the core, whilst integrating it with the incentive considerations that are preeminent in traditional economic analysis. The treatment starts with a detailed discussion of the basic models that act as 'benchmarks' for the complex-network literature: random networks, small worlds, and scale-free networks, before studying three different forces that underlie almost all network phenomena in social contexts: diffusion, search, and play. Finally, these forces are combined into a unified framework that is brought to bear on the issue of network formation and the coevolution of agents' behaviour and

This introductory text offers simple presentations of the fundamentals of nonlinear analysis, with direct proofs and clear applications. Its full treatment ranges from smooth to nonsmooth functions, f

Xiaoqun Xu makes a compelling and original contribution to the study of China's modernization with this book on the rise of professional associations in Republican China in their birthplace of Shanghai, and of their political and socio-cultural milieu. This 2001 book is rich in detail about the key professional and political figures and organizations in Shanghai, filling an important gap in its social history. The professional associations were, as the author writes, 'unambiguously urban and modern in their origins and functions … representing a new breed of educated Chinese' and they pioneered a new type of relationship with the state. Xu addresses a central issue in China studies, the relationship between state and society, and proposes an alternative to the Western-derived concept of civil society. This book illuminates the complexity of modernization and nationalism in twentieth-century China, and provides a concrete case for comparative studies of professionalization and class for

A vivid and revelatory novel based on actual events of the 1847 Oregon migration, A Sudden Country follows two characters of remarkable complexity and strength in a journey of survival and redemption.

Also called Ito calculus, the theory of stochastic integration has applications in virtually every scientific area involving random functions. This introductory textbook provides a concise introductio

This graduate/research level text describes in a unified fashion the statistical mechanics of random walks, random surfaces and random higher dimensional manifolds with an emphasis on the geometrical aspects of the theory and applications to the quantisation of strings, gravity and topological field theory. With chapters on random walks, random surfaces, two- and higher dimensional quantum gravity, topological quantum field theories and Monte Carlo simulations of random geometries, the text provides a self-contained account of quantum geometry from a statistical field theory point of view. The approach uses discrete approximations and develops analytical and numerical tools. Continuum physics is recovered through scaling limits at phase transition points and the relation to conformal quantum field theories coupled to quantum gravity is described. The most important numerical work is covered, but the main aim is to develop mathematically precise results that have wide applications. Many

This book provides an introduction to the general principles of nuclear magnetic resonance and relaxation, concentrating on simple models and their application. The concepts of relaxation and the time domain are particularly emphasised. Some relatively advanced topics are treated, but the approach is graduated and all points of potential difficulty are carefully explained. An introductory classical discussion of relaxation is followed by a quantum-mechanical treatment. Only when the the principles of relaxation are firmly established is the density operator approach introduced; and then its power becomes apparent. A selection of case studies is considered in depth, providing applications of the ideas developed in the text. There are a number of appendices, including one on random functions. This treatment of one of the most important experimental techniques in modern science will be of great value to final-year undergraduates, graduate students and researchers using nuclear magnetic re

The complex real-world interactions between the economy and the environment form both the focus of and main barrier to applied research within the field of environmental economics. However, geographical information systems (GIS) allow economists to tackle such complexity head on by directly incorporating diverse datasets into applied research rather than resorting to simplifying and often unrealistic assumptions. This innovative book applies GIS techniques to spatial cost-benefit analysis of a complex and topical land use change problem - the conversion of agricultural land to multipurpose woodland - looking in detail at issues such as opportunity costs, timber yield, recreation, carbon storage, etc., and embracing cost-cutting themes such as the evaluation of environmental preferences and the spatial transfer of benefit functions.

The book provides an introduction to the theory of cluster sets, a branch of topological analysis which has made great strides in recent years. The cluster set of a function at a particular point is the set of limit values of the function at that point which may be either a boundary point or (in the case of a non-analytic function) an interior point of the function's domain. In topological analysis, its main application is to problems arising in the theory of functions of a complex variable, with particular reference to boundary behaviour such as the theory of prime ends under conformal mapping. An important and novel feature of the book is the discussion of more general applications to non-analytic functions, including arbitrary functions. The authors assume a general familiarity with classical function theory but include the more specialised material required for the development of the theory of cluster sets, so making the treatment accessible to graduate students.

This book contains a collection of survey papers by leading researchers in ergodic theory, low-dimensional and topological dynamics and it comprises nine chapters on a range of important topics. These include: the role and usefulness of ultrafilters in ergodic theory, topological dynamics and Ramsey theory; topological aspects of kneading theory together with an analogous 2-dimensional theory called pruning; the dynamics of Markov odometers, Bratteli-Vershik diagrams and orbit equivalence of non-singular automorphisms; geometric proofs of Mather's connecting and accelerating theorems; recent results in one dimensional smooth dynamics; periodic points of nonexpansive maps; arithmetic dynamics; the defect of factor maps; entropy theory for actions of countable amenable groups.

Models and likelihood are the backbone of modern statistics. This 2003 book gives an integrated development of these topics that blends theory and practice, intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and practitioners. Its breadth is unrivaled, with sections on survival analysis, missing data, Markov chains, Markov random fields, point processes, graphical models, simulation and Markov chain Monte Carlo, estimating functions, asymptotic approximations, local likelihood and spline regressions as well as on more standard topics such as likelihood and linear and generalized linear models. Each chapter contains a wide range of problems and exercises. Practicals in the S language designed to build computing and data analysis skills, and a library of data sets to accompany the book, are available over the Web.

Now available in a fully revised and updated second edition, this well established textbook provides a straightforward introduction to the theory of probability. The presentation is entertaining without any sacrifice of rigour; important notions are covered with the clarity that the subject demands. Topics covered include conditional probability, independence, discrete and continuous random variables, basic combinatorics, generating functions and limit theorems, and an introduction to Markov chains. The text is accessible to undergraduate students and provides numerous worked examples and exercises to help build the important skills necessary for problem solving.

Modern textbook presentations of production economics typically treat producers as successful optimizers. Conventional econometric practice has generally followed this paradigm, and least squares based regression techniques have been used to estimate production, cost, profit and other functions. In such a framework deviations from maximum output, from minimum cost and cost minimizing input demands, and from maximum profit and profit maximizing output supplies and input demands, are attributed exclusively to random statistical noise. However casual empiricism and the business press both make persuasive cases for the argument that, although producers may indeed attempt to optimize, they do not always succeed. This book develops econometric techniques for the estimation of production, cost and profit frontiers, and for the estimation of the technical and economic efficiency with which producers approach these frontiers. Since these frontiers envelop rather than intersect the data, and sin

This classic textbook offers a clear exposition of modern probability theory and of the interplay between the properties of metric spaces and probability measures. The first half of the book gives an exposition of real analysis: basic set theory, general topology, measure theory, integration, an introduction to functional analysis in Banach and Hilbert spaces, convex sets and functions and measure on topological spaces. The second half introduces probability based on measure theory, including laws of large numbers, ergodic theorems, the central limit theorem, conditional expectations and martingale's convergence. A chapter on stochastic processes introduces Brownian motion and the Brownian bridge. The edition has been made even more self-contained than before; it now includes a foundation of the real number system and the Stone-Weierstrass theorem on uniform approximation in algebras of functions. Several other sections have been revised and improved, and the comprehensive historical n

This classic textbook offers a clear exposition of modern probability theory and of the interplay between the properties of metric spaces and probability measures. The first half of the book gives an exposition of real analysis: basic set theory, general topology, measure theory, integration, an introduction to functional analysis in Banach and Hilbert spaces, convex sets and functions and measure on topological spaces. The second half introduces probability based on measure theory, including laws of large numbers, ergodic theorems, the central limit theorem, conditional expectations and martingale's convergence. A chapter on stochastic processes introduces Brownian motion and the Brownian bridge. The edition has been made even more self-contained than before; it now includes a foundation of the real number system and the Stone-Weierstrass theorem on uniform approximation in algebras of functions. Several other sections have been revised and improved, and the comprehensive historical n

Antibiotic resistance and our consequent inability to treat many bacterial infections had fuelled an urgent need to understand the means by which bacteria cause disease. This has lead to a renaissance in research into bacterial disease mechanisms and the birth of a new discipline - cellular microbiology. The fruits of such research and how they have lead to an alternative perspective on bacteria-host interactions are described in this introductory textbook. The central premise is that bacteria have evolved means of manipulating normal host cell functions and overcoming host defence systems to ensure their survival. As well as offering an interesting perspective on the classical bacterial virulence mechanisms, this book outlines the molecular techniques developed to unravel the complexity of bacteria-host interactions. Research may lead not only to a better understanding of disease mechanisms, but also to alternative means of preventing and/or treating bacterial infections.

This book, first published in 2000, is devoted to developments in symbolic dynamics and comprises eight chapters. The first two are concerned with the study of symbolic sequences of 'low complexity', the following two introduce 'high complexity' systems. Chapter five presents results on asymptotic laws for the random times of occurrence of rare events. Chapter six deals with diophantine problems and combinatorial Ramsey theory. Chapter seven looks at the dynamics of symbolic systems arising from numeration systems, and finally chapter eight gives a complete description of the symbolic dynamics of Lorenz maps.

I slipped off my clothes and dove into the pool. We are 96 percent liquid. There is nothing more sensuous than a good splash against naked skin: the initial rush of cold, the smooth acquiescence of in

Orthonormal Systems and Banach Space Geometry describes the interplay between orthonormal expansions and Banach space geometry. Using harmonic analysis as a starting platform, classical inequalities and special functions are used to study orthonormal systems leading to an understanding of the advantages of systems consisting of characters on compact Abelian groups. Probabilistic concepts such as random variables and martingales are employed and Ramsey's theorem is used to study the theory of super-reflexivity. The text yields a detailed insight into concepts including type and co-type of Banach spaces, B-convexity, super-reflexivity, the vector-valued Fourier transform, the vector-valued Hilbert transform and the unconditionality property for martingale differences (UMD). A long list of unsolved problems is included as a starting point for research. This book should be accessible to graduate students and researchers with some basic knowledge of Banach space theory, real analysis, proba

This 1998 book provides an introduction to dynamical systems and ergodic theory with an emphasis on smooth actions of noncompact Lie groups. The main goal is to serve as an entry into the literature on the ergodic theory of measure preserving actions of semisimple Lie groups. The author develops in a detailed and self-contained way the main results on Lie groups, Lie algebras, and semisimple groups, including basic facts on manifolds and Lie groups plus topics such as integration of infinitesimal actions of Lie groups. He then derives the basic structure theorems for the real semisimple Lie groups, such as the Cartan and Iwasawa decompositions and gives an extensive exposition of the general facts and concepts from topological dynamics and ergodic theory, including detailed proofs of the multiplicative ergodic theorem and Moore's ergodicity theorem. This book should appeal to anyone interested in Lie theory, differential geometry and dynamical systems.

This book provides an introduction to lattice models of polymers. This is an important topic both in the theory of critical phenomena and the modelling of polymers. The first two chapters introduce the basic theory of random, directed and self-avoiding walks. The next two chapters develop and expand this theory to explore the self-avoiding walk in both two and three dimensions. Following chapters describe polymers near a surface, dense polymers, self-interacting polymers and branched polymers. The book closes with discussions of some geometrical and topological properties of polymers, and of self-avoiding surfaces on a lattice. The volume combines results from rigorous analytical and numerical work to give a coherent picture of the properties of lattice models of polymers. This book will be valuable for graduate students and researchers working in statistical mechanics, theoretical physics and polymer physics. It will also be of interest to those working in applied mathematics and theo

The most comprehensive overview of signal detection available. This is a thorough, up-to-date introduction to optimizing detection algorithms for implementation on digital computers. It focuses extensively on real-world signal processing applications, including state-of-the-art speech and communications technology as well as traditional sonar/radar systems. Start with a quick review of the fundamental issues associated with mathematical detection, as well as the most important probability density functions and their properties. Next, review Gaussian, Chi-Squared, F, Rayleigh, and Rician PDFs, quadratic forms of Gaussian random variables, asymptotic Gaussian PDFs, and Monte Carlo Performance Evaluations. Three chapters introduce the basics of detection based on simple hypothesis testing, including the Neyman-Pearson Theorem, handling irrelevant data, Bayes Risk, multiple hypothesis testing, and both deterministic and random signals. The author then presents exceptionally detailed covera

This graduate/research level text describes in a unified fashion the statistical mechanics of random walks, random surfaces and random higher dimensional manifolds with an emphasis on the geometrical aspects of the theory and applications to the quantisation of strings, gravity and topological field theory. With chapters on random walks, random surfaces, two- and higher dimensional quantum gravity, topological quantum field theories and Monte Carlo simulations of random geometries, the text provides a self-contained account of quantum geometry from a statistical field theory point of view. The approach uses discrete approximations and develops analytical and numerical tools. Continuum physics is recovered through scaling limits at phase transition points and the relation to conformal quantum field theories coupled to quantum gravity is described. The most important numerical work is covered, but the main aim is to develop mathematically precise results that have wide applications. Many

This book provides an introduction to the general principles of nuclear magnetic resonance and relaxation, concentrating on simple models and their application. The concepts of relaxation and the time domain are particularly emphasised. Some relatively advanced topics are treated, but the approach is graduated and all points of potential difficulty are carefully explained. An introductory classical discussion of relaxation is followed by a quantum-mechanical treatment. Only when the the principles of relaxation are firmly established is the density operator approach introduced; and then its power becomes apparent. A selection of case studies is considered in depth, providing applications of the ideas developed in the text. There are a number of appendices, including one on random functions. This treatment of one of the most important experimental techniques in modern science will be of great value to final-year undergraduates, graduate students and researchers using nuclear magnetic re

In this book the authors present their research into the foundations of the theory of Polish groups and the associated orbit equivalence relations. The particular case of locally compact groups has long been studied in many areas of mathematics. Non-locally compact Polish groups occur naturally as groups of symmetries in such areas as logic (especially model theory), ergodic theory, group representations, and operator algebras. Some of the topics covered here are: topological realizations of Borel measurable actions; universal actions; applications to invariant measures; actions of the infinite symmetric group in connection with model theory (logic actions); dichotomies for orbit spaces (including Silver, Glimm-Effros type dichotomies and the topological Vaught conjecture); descriptive complexity of orbit equivalence relations; definable cardinality of orbit spaces.

The fundamental ideas concerning computation and recursion naturally find their place at the interface between logic and theoretical computer science. The contributions in this book, by leaders in the field, provide a picture of current ideas and methods in the ongoing investigations into the pure mathematical foundations of computability theory. The topics range over computable functions, enumerable sets, degree structures, complexity, subrecursiveness, domains and inductive inference. A number of the articles contain introductory and background material which it is hoped will make this volume an invaluable resource.

This book is a self-contained introduction to the theory of distributions, sometimes called generalized functions. Most books on this subject are either intuitive or else rigorous but technically demanding. Here, by concentrating on the essential results, the authors have introduced the subject in a way that will most appeal to non-specialists, yet is still mathematically correct. Topics covered include: the Dirac delta function, generalized functions, dipoles, quadrupoles, pseudofunctions and Fourier transforms. The self-contained treatment does not require any knowledge of functional analysis or topological vector spaces; even measure theory is not needed for most of the book. The book, which can be used either to accompany a course or for self-study, is liberally supplied with exercises. It will be a valuable introduction to the theory of distributions and their applications for students or professionals in statistics, physics, engineering and economics.

Markov chains are an important idea, related to random walks, which crops up widely in applied stochastic analysis. They are used, for example, in performance modelling and evaluation of computer networks, queuing networks, and telecommunication systems. The main point of the present book is to provide methods, based on the construction of Lyapunov functions, of determining when a Markov chain is ergodic, null recurrent, or transient. These methods can also be extended to the study of questions of stability. Of particular concern are reflected random walks and reflected Brownian motion. The authors provide not only a self-contained introduction to the theory but also details of how the required Lyapunov functions are constructed in various situations.

It is the year 12,020 G.E. and Emperor Cleon I sits uneasily on the Imperial throne of Trantor. Here in the great multidomed capital of the Galactic Empire, forty billion people have created a civilization of unimaginable technological and cultural complexity. Yet Cleon knows there are those who would see him fall - those whom he would destroy if only he could read the future.Hari Seldon has come to Trantor to deliver his paper on psychohistory, his remarkable theory of prediction. Little does the young Outworld mathematician know that he has already sealed his fate and the fate of humanity. For Hari possesses the prophetic power that makes him the most wanted man in the Empire... the man who holds the key to the future - an apocalyptic power to be know forever after as the Foundation.

This basic treatment, specially designed for undergraduates, covers preliminaries ? sets, relations, and more ? topological spaces, continuous functions ? mappings ? and homeomorphisms, special types