Modelling And Application Of Stochastic Processes

The subject of modelling and application of stochastic processes is too vast to be exhausted in a single volume. In this book, attention is focused on a small subset of this vast subject. The primary emphasis is on realization and approximation of stochastic systems. Recently there has been considerable interest in the stochastic realization problem, and hence, an attempt has been made here to collect in one place some of the more recent approaches and algorithms for solving the stochastic realiza tion problem. Various different approaches for realizing linear minimum-phase systems, linear nonminimum-phase systems, and bilinear systems are presented. These approaches range from time-domain methods to spectral-domain methods. An overview of the chapter contents briefly describes these approaches. Also, in most of these chapters special attention is given to the problem of developing numerically ef ficient algorithms for obtaining reduced-order (approximate) stochastic realizations. On the application side, chapters on use of Markov random fields for modelling and analyzing image signals, use of complementary models for the smoothing problem with missing data, and nonlinear estimation are included. Chapter 1 by Klein and Dickinson develops the nested orthogonal state space realization for ARMA processes. As suggested by the name, nested orthogonal realizations possess two key properties; (i) the state variables are orthogonal, and (ii) the system matrices for the (n + l)st order realization contain as their "upper" n-th order blocks the system matrices from the n-th order realization (nesting property).

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.

The Book Presents A Systematic Exposition Of The Basic Theory And Applications Of Stochastic Models.Emphasising The Modelling Rather Than Mathematical Aspects Of Stochastic Processes, The Book Bridges The Gap Between The Theory And Applications Of These Processes.The Basic Building Blocks Of Model Construction Are Explained In A Step By Step Manner, Starting From The Simplest Model Of Random Walk And Proceeding Gradually To More Complicated Models. Several Examples Are Given Throughout The Text To Illustrate Important Analytical Properties As Well As To Provide Applications.The Book Also Includes A Detailed Chapter On Inference For Stochastic Processes. This Chapter Highlights Some Of The Recent Developments In The Subject And Explains Them Through Illustrative Examples.An Important Feature Of The Book Is The Complements And Problems Section At The End Of Each Chapter Which Presents (I) Additional Properties Of The Model, (Ii) Extensions Of The Model, And (Iii) Applications Of The Model To Different Areas.With All These Features, This Is An Invaluable Text For Post-Graduate Students Of Statistics, Mathematics And Operation Research.

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.

Unlike traditional books presenting stochastic processes in an academic way, this book includes concrete applications that students will find interesting such as gambling, finance, physics, signal processing, statistics, fractals, and biology. Written with an important illustrated guide in the beginning, it contains many illustrations, photos and pictures, along with several website links. Computational tools such as simulation and Monte Carlo methods are included as well as complete toolboxes for both traditional and new computational techniques.

Stochastic biomathematical models are becoming increasingly important as new light is shed on the role of noise in living systems. In certain biological systems, stochastic effects may even enhance a signal, thus providing a biological motivation for the noise observed in living systems. Recent advances in stochastic analysis and increasing computing power facilitate the analysis of more biophysically realistic models, and this book provides researchers in computational neuroscience and stochastic systems with an overview of recent developments. Key concepts are developed in chapters written by experts in their respective fields. Topics include: one-dimensional homogeneous diffusions and their boundary behavior, large deviation theory and its application in stochastic neurobiological models, a review of mathematical methods for stochastic neuronal integrate-and-fire models, stochastic partial differential equation models in neurobiology, and stochastic modeling of spreading cortical depression.

This textbook shall serve a double purpose: first of all, it is a book about generalized stochastic processes, a very important but highly neglected part of probability theory which plays an outstanding role in noise modelling. Secondly, this textbook is a guide to noise modelling for mathematicians and engineers to foster the interdisciplinary discussion between mathematicians (to provide effective noise models) and engineers (to be familiar with the mathematical backround of noise modelling in order to handle noise models in an optimal way).Two appendices on "A Short Course in Probability Theory" and "Spectral Theory of Stochastic Processes" plus a well-choosen set of problems and solutions round this compact textbook off.

Stochastic processes are powerful tools for the investigation of reliability and availability of repairable equipment and systems. Because of the involved models, and in order to be mathematically tractable, these processes are generally confined to the class of regenerative stochastic processes with a finite state space, to which belong: renewal processes, Markov processes, semi-Markov processes, and more general regenerative processes with only one (or a few) regeneration staters). The object of this monograph is to review these processes and to use them in solving some reliability problems encountered in practical applications. Emphasis is given to a comprehensive exposition of the analytical procedures, to the limitations in volved, and to the unification and extension of. the models known in the literature. The models investigated here assume. that systems have only one repair crew and that no further failure can occur at system down. Repair and failure rates are general ized step-by-step, up to the case in which the involved process is regenerative with only one (or a few) regeneration state(s). Investigations deal with different kinds of reliabilities and availabilities for series/parallel structures. Preventive main tenance and imperfect switching are considered in some examples.