This book provides a compact introduction to the theory of measure-valued branching processes, immigration processes and Ornstein–Uhlenbeck type processes. Measure-valued branching processes arise as high density limits of branching particle systems. The first part of the book gives an analytic construction of a special class of such processes, the Dawson–Watanabe superprocesses, which includes the finite-dimensional continuous-state branching process as an example. Under natural assumptions, it is shown that the superprocesses have Borel right realizations. Transformations are then used to derive the existence and regularity of several different forms of the superprocesses. This technique simplifies the constructions and gives useful new perspectives. Martingale problems of superprocesses are discussed under Feller type assumptions. The second part investigates immigration structures associated with the measure-valued branching processes. The structures are formulated by skew convolution semigroups, which are characterized in terms of infinitely divisible probability entrance laws. A theory of stochastic equations for one-dimensional continuous-state branching processes with or without immigration is developed, which plays a key role in the construction of measure flows of those processes. The third part of the book studies a class of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type processes in Hilbert spaces defined by generalized Mehler semigroups, which arise naturally in fluctuation limit theorems of the immigration superprocesses. This volume is aimed at researchers in measure-valued processes, branching processes, stochastic analysis, biological and genetic models, and graduate students in probability theory and stochastic processes.

Measure-valued branching processes arise as high density limits of branching particle systems. The Dawson-Watanabe superprocess is a special class of those. The author constructs superprocesses with Borel right underlying motions and general branching mechanisms and shows the existence of their Borel right realizations. He then uses transformations to derive the existence and regularity of several different forms of the superprocesses. This treatment simplifies the constructions and gives useful perspectives. Martingale problems of superprocesses are discussed under Feller type assumptions. The most important feature of the book is the systematic treatment of immigration superprocesses and generalized Ornstein--Uhlenbeck processes based on skew convolution semigroups. The volume addresses researchers in measure-valued processes, branching processes, stochastic analysis, biological and genetic models, and graduate students in probability theory and stochastic processes.

For about half a century, two classes of stochastic processes---Gaussian processes and processes with independent increments---have played an important role in the development of stochastic analysis and its applications. During the last decade, a third class---branching measure-valued (BMV) processes---has also been the subject of much research. A common feature of all three classes is that their finite-dimensional distributions are infinitely divisible, allowing the use of the powerful analytic tool of Laplace (or Fourier) transforms. All three classes, in an infinite-dimensional setting, provide means for study of physical systems with infinitely many degrees of freedom. This is the first monograph devoted to the theory of BMV processes. Dynkin first constructs a large class of BMV processes, called superprocesses, by passing to the limit from branching particle systems. Then he proves that, under certain restrictions, a general BMV process is a superprocess. A special chapter is devoted to the connections between superprocesses and a class of nonlinear partial differential equations recently discovered by Dynkin.

Over the past 20 years, the study of superprocesses has expanded into a major industry and can now be regarded as a central theme in modern probability theory. This book is intended as a rapid introduction to the subject, geared toward graduate students and researchers in stochastic analysis. A variety of different approaches to the superprocesses emerged over the last ten years. Yet no one approach superseded any others. In this book, readers are exposed to a number of different ways of thinking about the processes, and each is used to motivate some key results. The emphasis is on why results are true rather than on rigorous proof. Specific results are given, including extensive references to current literature for their general form.

Over the last fifteen years fractal geometry has established itself as a substantial mathematical theory in its own right. The interplay between fractal geometry, analysis and stochastics has highly influenced recent developments in mathematical modeling of complicated structures. This process has been forced by problems in these areas related to applications in statistical physics, biomathematics and finance. This book is a collection of survey articles covering many of the most recent developments, like Schramm-Loewner evolution, fractal scaling limits, exceptional sets for percolation, and heat kernels on fractals. The authors were the keynote speakers at the conference "Fractal Geometry and Stochastics IV" at Greifswald in September 2008.

This is the proceedings volume of an international conference entitled Complex Analysis and Potential Theory, which was held to honor the important contributions of two influential analysts, Kohur N. GowriSankaran and Paul M. Gauthier, in June 2011 at the Centre de Recherches Mathematiques (CRM) in Montreal. More than fifty mathematicians from fifteen countries participated in the conference. The twenty-four surveys and research articles contained in this book are based on the lectures given by some of the most established specialists in the fields. They reflect the wide breadth of research interests of the two honorees: from potential theory on trees to approximation on Riemann surfaces, from universality to inner and outer functions and the disc algebra, from branching processes to harmonic extension and capacities, from harmonic mappings and the Harnack principle to integration formulae in $\mathbb {C}^n$ and the Hartogs phenomenon, from fine harmonicity and plurisubharmonic functions to the binomial identity and the Riemann hypothesis, and more. This volume will be a valuable resource for specialists, young researchers, and graduate students from both fields, complex analysis and potential theory. It will foster further cooperation and the exchange of ideas and techniques to find new research perspectives.

The field of Stochastic Partial Differential Equations (SPDEs) is one of the most dynamically developing areas of mathematics. It lies at the cross section of probability, partial differential equations, population biology, and mathematical physics. The field is especially attractive because of its interdisciplinary nature and the enormous richness of current and potential future applications. This volume is a collection of six important topics in SPDEs presented from the viewpoint of distinguished scientists working in the field and related areas. Emphasized are the genesis and applications of SPDEs as well as mathematical theory and numerical methods. .