Probability Measures On Groups

a

The present volume contains the transactions of the lOth Oberwolfach Conference on "Probability Measures on Groups". The series of these meetings inaugurated in 1970 by L. Schmetterer and the editor is devoted to an intensive exchange of ideas on a subject which developed from the relations between various topics of mathematics: measure theory, probability theory, group theory, harmonic analysis, special functions, partial differential operators, quantum stochastics, just to name the most significant ones. Over the years the fruitful interplay broadened in various directions: new group-related structures such as convolution algebras, generalized translation spaces, hypercomplex systems, and hypergroups arose from generalizations as well as from applications, and a gradual refinement of the combinatorial, Banach-algebraic and Fourier analytic methods led to more precise insights into the theory. In a period of highest specialization in scientific thought the separated minds should be reunited by actively emphasizing similarities, analogies and coincidences between ideas in their fields of research. Although there is no real separation between one field and another - David Hilbert denied even the existence of any difference between pure and applied mathematics - bridges between probability theory on one side and algebra, topology and geometry on the other side remain absolutely necessary. They provide a favorable ground for the communication between apparently disjoint research groups and motivate the framework of what is nowadays called "Structural probability theory".

The latest in this series of Oberwolfach conferences focussed on the interplay between structural probability theory and various other areas of pure and applied mathematics such as Tauberian theory, infinite-dimensional rotation groups, central limit theorems, harmonizable processes, and spherical data. Thus it was attended by mathematicians whose research interests range from number theory to quantum physics in conjunction with structural properties of probabilistic phenomena. This volume contains 5 survey articles submitted on special invitation and 25 original research papers.

Probability Measures on Metric Spaces presents the general theory of probability measures in abstract metric spaces. This book deals with complete separable metric groups, locally impact abelian groups, Hilbert spaces, and the spaces of continuous functions. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of isomorphism theorem, which states that two Borel subsets of complete separable metric spaces are isomorphic if and only if they have the same cardinality. This text then deals with properties such as tightness, regularity, and perfectness of measures defined on metric spaces. Other chapters consider the arithmetic of probability distributions in topological groups. This book discusses as well the proofs of the classical extension theorems and existence of conditional and regular conditional probabilities in standard Borel spaces. The final chapter deals with the compactness criteria for sets of probability measures and their applications to testing statistical hypotheses. This book is a valuable resource for statisticians.