An Introduction to Stochastic Modeling provides information pertinent to the standard concepts and methods of stochastic modeling. This book presents the rich diversity of applications of stochastic processes in the sciences. Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of diverse types of stochastic models, which predicts a set of possible outcomes weighed by their likelihoods or probabilities. This text then provides exercises in the applications of simple stochastic analysis to appropriate problems. Other chapters consider the study of general functions of independent, identically distributed, nonnegative random variables representing the successive intervals between renewals. This book discusses as well the numerous examples of Markov branching processes that arise naturally in various scientific disciplines. The final chapter deals with queueing models, which aid the design process by predicting system performance. This book is a valuable resource for students of engineering and management science. Engineers will also find this book useful.

Three coherent parts form the material covered in this text, portions of which have not been widely covered in traditional textbooks. In this coverage the reader is quickly introduced to several different topics enriched with 175 exercises which focus on real-world problems. Exercises range from the classics of probability theory to more exotic research-oriented problems based on numerical simulations. Intended for graduate students in mathematics and applied sciences, the text provides the tools and training needed to write and use programs for research purposes. The first part of the text begins with a brief review of measure theory and revisits the main concepts of probability theory, from random variables to the standard limit theorems. The second part covers traditional material on stochastic processes, including martingales, discrete-time Markov chains, Poisson processes, and continuous-time Markov chains. The theory developed is illustrated by a variety of examples surrounding applications such as the gambler’s ruin chain, branching processes, symmetric random walks, and queueing systems. The third, more research-oriented part of the text, discusses special stochastic processes of interest in physics, biology, and sociology. Additional emphasis is placed on minimal models that have been used historically to develop new mathematical techniques in the field of stochastic processes: the logistic growth process, the Wright –Fisher model, Kingman’s coalescent, percolation models, the contact process, and the voter model. Further treatment of the material explains how these special processes are connected to each other from a modeling perspective as well as their simulation capabilities in C and MatlabTM.

This unique two-volume set presents the subjects of stochastic processes, information theory, and Lie groups in a unified setting, thereby building bridges between fields that are rarely studied by the same people. Unlike the many excellent formal treatments available for each of these subjects individually, the emphasis in both of these volumes is on the use of stochastic, geometric, and group-theoretic concepts in the modeling of physical phenomena. Stochastic Models, Information Theory, and Lie Groups will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working in applied mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering. Extensive exercises, motivating examples, and real-world applications make the work suitable as a textbook for use in courses that emphasize applied stochastic processes or differential geometry.

In this monograph the authors give a systematic approach to the probabilistic properties of the fixed point equation X=AX+B. A probabilistic study of the stochastic recurrence equation X_t=A_tX_{t-1}+B_t for real- and matrix-valued random variables A_t, where (A_t,B_t) constitute an iid sequence, is provided. The classical theory for these equations, including the existence and uniqueness of a stationary solution, the tail behavior with special emphasis on power law behavior, moments and support, is presented. The authors collect recent asymptotic results on extremes, point processes, partial sums (central limit theory with special emphasis on infinite variance stable limit theory), large deviations, in the univariate and multivariate cases, and they further touch on the related topics of smoothing transforms, regularly varying sequences and random iterative systems. The text gives an introduction to the Kesten-Goldie theory for stochastic recurrence equations of the type X_t=A_tX_{t-1}+B_t. It provides the classical results of Kesten, Goldie, Guivarc'h, and others, and gives an overview of recent results on the topic. It presents the state-of-the-art results in the field of affine stochastic recurrence equations and shows relations with non-affine recursions and multivariate regular variation.

In this monograph stochastic models of systems analysis are discussed. It covers many aspects and different stages from the construction of mathematical models of real systems, through mathematical analysis of models based on simplification methods, to the interpretation of real stochastic systems. The stochastic models described here share the property that their evolutionary aspects develop under the influence of random factors. It has been assumed that the evolution takes place in a random medium, i.e. unilateral interaction between the system and the medium. As only Markovian models of random medium are considered in this book, the stochastic models described here are determined by two processes, a switching process describing the evolution of the systems and a switching process describing the changes of the random medium. Audience: This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers whose work involves probability theory, stochastic processes, mathematical systems theory, ordinary differential equations, operator theory, or mathematical modelling and industrial mathematics.

Our daily lives can be maintained by the high-technology systems. Computer systems are typical examples of such systems. We can enjoy our modern lives by using many computer systems. Much more importantly, we have to maintain such systems without failure, but cannot predict when such systems will fail and how to fix such systems without delay. A stochastic process is a set of outcomes of a random experiment indexed by time, and is one of the key tools needed to analyze the future behavior quantitatively. Reliability and maintainability technologies are of great interest and importance to the maintenance of such systems. Many mathematical models have been and will be proposed to describe reliability and maintainability systems by using the stochastic processes. The theme of this book is "Stochastic Models in Reliability and Main tainability. " This book consists of 12 chapters on the theme above from the different viewpoints of stochastic modeling. Chapter 1 is devoted to "Renewal Processes," under which classical renewal theory is surveyed and computa tional methods are described. Chapter 2 discusses "Stochastic Orders," and in it some definitions and concepts on stochastic orders are described and ag ing properties can be characterized by stochastic orders. Chapter 3 is devoted to "Classical Maintenance Models," under which the so-called age, block and other replacement models are surveyed. Chapter 4 discusses "Modeling Plant Maintenance," describing how maintenance practice can be carried out for plant maintenance.

Newly revised by the author, this undergraduate-level text introduces the mathematical theory of probability and stochastic processes. Using both computer simulations and mathematical models of random events, it comprises numerous applications to the physical and biological sciences, engineering, and computer science. Subjects include sample spaces, probabilities distributions and expectations of random variables, conditional expectations, Markov chains, and the Poisson process. Additional topics encompass continuous-time stochastic processes, birth and death processes, steady-state probabilities, general queuing systems, and renewal processes. Each section features worked examples, and exercises appear at the end of each chapter, with numerical solutions at the back of the book. Suggestions for further reading in stochastic processes, simulation, and various applications also appear at the end.