Probability Measures On Groups X

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".

Probability measures on algebraic-topological structures such as topological semi groups, groups, and vector spaces have become of increasing importance in recent years for probabilists interested in the structural aspects of the theory as well as for analysts aiming at applications within the scope of probability theory. In order to obtain a natural framework for a first systematic presentation of the most developed part of the work done in the field we restrict ourselves to prob ability measures on locally compact groups. At the same time we stress the non Abelian aspect. Thus the book is concerned with a set of problems which can be regarded either from the probabilistic or from the harmonic-analytic point of view. In fact, it seems to be the synthesis of these two viewpoints, the initial inspiration coming from probability and the refined techniques from harmonic analysis which made this newly established subject so fascinating. The goal of the presentation is to give a fairly complete treatment of the central limit problem for probability measures on a locally compact group. In analogy to the classical theory the discussion is centered around the infinitely divisible probability measures on the group and their relationship to the convergence of infinitesimal triangular systems.

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.

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.