Interactive particle systems is a branch of probability theory with close connections to mathematical physics and mathematical biology. This book takes three of the most important models in the area, and traces advances in our understanding of them since 1985. It explains and develops many of the most useful techniques in the field.

At what point in the development of a new field should a book be written about it? This question is seldom easy to answer. In the case of interacting particle systems, important progress continues to be made at a substantial pace. A number of problems which are nearly as old as the subject itself remain open, and new problem areas continue to arise and develop. Thus one might argue that the time is not yet ripe for a book on this subject. On the other hand, this field is now about fifteen years old. Many important of several basic models is problems have been solved and the analysis almost complete. The papers written on this subject number in the hundreds. It has become increasingly difficult for newcomers to master the proliferating literature, and for workers in allied areas to make effective use of it. Thus I have concluded that this is an appropriate time to pause and take stock of the progress made to date. It is my hope that this book will not only provide a useful account of much of this progress, but that it will also help stimulate the future vigorous development of this field.

This volume provides an overview of two of the most important examples of interacting particle systems, the contact process, and the voter model, as well as their many variants introduced in the past 50 years. These stochastic processes are organized by domains of application (epidemiology, population dynamics, ecology, genetics, sociology, econophysics, game theory) along with a flavor of the mathematical techniques developed for their analysis.

This book has been long awaited in the "interacting particle systems" community. Begun by Claude Kipnis before his untimely death, it was completed by Claudio Landim, his most brilliant student and collaborator. It presents the techniques used in the proof of the hydrodynamic behavior of interacting particle systems.

This volume provides an overview of two of the most important examples of interacting particle systems, the contact process, and the voter model, as well as their many variants introduced in the past 50 years. These stochastic processes are organized by domains of application (epidemiology, population dynamics, ecology, genetics, sociology, econophysics, game theory) along with a flavor of the mathematical techniques developed for their analysis.

This book deals with one of the fundamental problems of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics: the explanation of large-scale dynamics (evolution differential equations) from models of a very large number of interacting particles. This book addresses both researchers and students. Much of the material presented has never been published in book-form before.

The first part of the book provides a pedagogical introduction to the physics of complex systems driven far from equilibrium. In this part we discuss the basic concepts and theoretical techniques which are commonly used to study classical stochastic transport in systems of interacting driven particles. The analytical techniques include mean-field theories, matrix product ansatz, renormalization group, etc. and the numerical methods are mostly based on computer simulations. In the second part of the book these concepts and techniques are applied not only to vehicular traffic but also to transport and traffic-like phenomena in living systems ranging from collective movements of social insects (for example, ants) on trails to intracellular molecular motor transport. These demonstrate the conceptual unity of the fundamental principles underlying the apparent diversity of the systems and the utility of the theoretical toolbox of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics in interdisciplinary research far beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries of physics. - Leading industry experts provide a broad overview of the interdisciplinary nature of physics - Presents unified descriptions of intracellular, ant, and vehicular traffic from a physics point of view - Applies theoretical methods in practical everyday situations - Reference and guide for physicists, engineers and graduate students