Stochastic processes are an essential part of numerous branches of physics, as well as in biology, chemistry, and finance. This textbook provides a solid understanding of stochastic processes and stochastic calculus in physics, without the need for measure theory. In avoiding measure theory, this textbook gives readers the tools necessary to use stochastic methods in research with a minimum of mathematical background. Coverage of the more exotic Levy processes is included, as is a concise account of numerical methods for simulating stochastic systems driven by Gaussian noise. The book concludes with a non-technical introduction to the concepts and jargon of measure-theoretic probability theory. With over 70 exercises, this textbook is an easily accessible introduction to stochastic processes and their applications, as well as methods for numerical simulation, for graduate students and researchers in physics.

This new edition of Van Kampen's standard work has been completely revised and updated. Three major changes have also been made. The Langevin equation receives more attention in a separate chapter in which non-Gaussian and colored noise are introduced. Another additional chapter contains old and new material on first-passage times and related subjects which lay the foundation for the chapter on unstable systems. Finally a completely new chapter has been written on the quantum mechanical foundations of noise. The references have also been expanded and updated.

This book seeks to bridge the gap between the parlance, the models, and even the notations used by physicists and those used by mathematicians when it comes to the topic of probability and stochastic processes. The opening four chapters elucidate the basic concepts of probability, including probability spaces and measures, random variables, and limit theorems. Here, the focus is mainly on models and ideas rather than the mathematical tools. The discussion of limit theorems serves as a gateway to extensive coverage of the theory of stochastic processes, including, for example, stationarity and ergodicity, Poisson and Wiener processes and their trajectories, other Markov processes, jump-diffusion processes, stochastic calculus, and stochastic differential equations. All these conceptual tools then converge in a dynamical theory of Brownian motion that compares the Einstein–Smoluchowski and Ornstein–Uhlenbeck approaches, highlighting the most important ideas that finally led to a connection between the Schrödinger equation and diffusion processes along the lines of Nelson’s stochastic mechanics. A series of appendices cover particular details and calculations, and offer concise treatments of particular thought-provoking topics.

This “lucid, masterfully written introduction to an often difficult subject . . . belongs on the bookshelf of every student of statistical physics” (Dr. Brian J. Albright, Applied Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory). This book provides an accessible introduction to stochastic processes in physics and describes the basic mathematical tools of the trade: probability, random walks, and Wiener and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. With an emphasis on applications, it includes end-of-chapter problems. Physicist and author Don S. Lemons builds on Paul Langevin’s seminal 1908 paper “On the Theory of Brownian Motion” and its explanations of classical uncertainty in natural phenomena. Following Langevin’s example, Lemons applies Newton’s second law to a “Brownian particle on which the total force included a random component.” This method builds on Newtonian dynamics and provides an accessible explanation to anyone approaching the subject for the first time. This volume contains the complete text of Paul Langevin’s “On the Theory of Brownian Motion,” translated by Anthony Gythiel.

This book introduces the theory of stochastic processes with applications taken from physics and finance. Fundamental concepts like the random walk or Brownian motion but also Levy-stable distributions are discussed. Applications are selected to show the interdisciplinary character of the concepts and methods. In the second edition of the book a discussion of extreme events ranging from their mathematical definition to their importance for financial crashes was included. The exposition of basic notions of probability theory and the Brownian motion problem as well as the relation between conservative diffusion processes and quantum mechanics is expanded. The second edition also enlarges the treatment of financial markets. Beyond a presentation of geometric Brownian motion and the Black-Scholes approach to option pricing as well as the econophysics analysis of the stylized facts of financial markets, an introduction to agent based modeling approaches is given.

The theory of stochastic processes originally grew out of efforts to describe Brownian motion quantitatively. Today it provides a huge arsenal of methods suitable for analyzing the influence of noise on a wide range of systems. The credit for acquiring all the deep insights and powerful methods is due ma- ly to a handful of physicists and mathematicians: Einstein, Smoluchowski, Langevin, Wiener, Stratonovich, etc. Hence it is no surprise that until - cently the bulk of basic and applied stochastic research was devoted to purely mathematical and physical questions. However, in the last decade we have witnessed an enormous growth of results achieved in other sciences - especially chemistry and biology - based on applying methods of stochastic processes. One reason for this stochastics boom may be that the realization that noise plays a constructive rather than the expected deteriorating role has spread to communities beyond physics. Besides their aesthetic appeal these noise-induced, noise-supported or noise-enhanced effects sometimes offer an explanation for so far open pr- lems (information transmission in the nervous system and information p- cessing in the brain, processes at the cell level, enzymatic reactions, etc.). They may also pave the way to novel technological applications (noise-- hanced reaction rates, noise-induced transport and separation on the na- scale, etc.). Key words to be mentioned in this context are stochastic r- onance, Brownian motors or ratchets, and noise-supported phenomena in excitable systems.

The Advances in Chemical Physics series provides the chemical physics and physical chemistry fields with a forum for critical, authoritative evaluations of advances in every area of the discipline. Filled with cutting-edge research reported in a cohesive manner not found elsewhere in the literature, each volume of the Advances in Chemical Physics series serves as the perfect supplement to any advanced graduate class devoted to the study of chemical physics.