Stochastic Analysis On Manifolds

Concerned with probability theory, Elton Hsu's study focuses primarily on the relations between Brownian motion on a manifold and analytical aspects of differential geometry. A key theme is the probabilistic interpretation of the curvature of a manifold

Addressed to both pure and applied probabilitists, including graduate students, this text is a pedagogically-oriented introduction to the Schwartz-Meyer second-order geometry and its use in stochastic calculus. P.A. Meyer has contributed an appendix: "A short presentation of stochastic calculus" presenting the basis of stochastic calculus and thus making the book better accessible to non-probabilitists also. No prior knowledge of differential geometry is assumed of the reader: this is covered within the text to the extent. The general theory is presented only towards the end of the book, after the reader has been exposed to two particular instances - martingales and Brownian motions - in manifolds. The book also includes new material on non-confluence of martingales, s.d.e. from one manifold to another, approximation results for martingales, solutions to Stratonovich differential equations. Thus this book will prove very useful to specialists and non-specialists alike, as a self-contained introductory text or as a compact reference.

Stochastic analysis on Riemannian manifolds without boundary has been well established. However, the analysis for reflecting diffusion processes and sub-elliptic diffusion processes is far from complete. This book contains recent advances in this direction along with new ideas and efficient arguments, which are crucial for further developments. Many results contained here (for example, the formula of the curvature using derivatives of the semigroup) are new among existing monographs even in the case without boundary.

The aims of this book, originally published in 1982, are to give an understanding of the basic ideas concerning stochastic differential equations on manifolds and their solution flows, to examine the properties of Brownian motion on Riemannian manifolds when it is constructed using the stochiastic development and to indicate some of the uses of the theory. The author has included two appendices which summarise the manifold theory and differential geometry needed to follow the development; coordinate-free notation is used throughout. Moreover, the stochiastic integrals used are those which can be obtained from limits of the Riemann sums, thereby avoiding much of the technicalities of the general theory of processes and allowing the reader to get a quick grasp of the fundamental ideas of stochastic integration as they are needed for a variety of applications.

Hoping to make the text more accessible to readers not schooled in the probabalistic tradition, Stroock (affiliation unspecified) emphasizes the geometric over the stochastic analysis of differential manifolds. Chapters deconstruct Brownian paths, diffusions in Euclidean space, intrinsic and extrinsic Riemannian geometry, Bocher's identity, and the bundle of orthonormal frames. The volume humbly concludes with an "admission of defeat" in regard to recovering the Li-Yau basic differential inequality. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

'Et moi ..., si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point aile.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded n- sense'. The series is divergent; therefore we may be able to do something with it. Eric T. Bell O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ... '; 'One service logic has rendered com puter science .. .'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics .. .'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

Methods of global analysis and stochastic analysis are most often applied in mathematical physics as separate entities, thus forming important directions in the field. However, while combination of the two subject areas is rare, it is fundamental for the consideration of a broader class of problems. This book develops methods of Global Analysis and Stochastic Analysis such that their combination allows one to have a more or less common treatment for areas of mathematical physics that traditionally are considered as divergent and requiring different methods of investigation. Global and Stochastic Analysis with Applications to Mathematical Physics covers branches of mathematics that are currently absent in monograph form. Through the demonstration of new topics of investigation and results, both in traditional and more recent problems, this book offers a fresh perspective on ordinary and stochastic differential equations and inclusions (in particular, given in terms of Nelson's mean derivatives) on linear spaces and manifolds. Topics covered include classical mechanics on non-linear configuration spaces, problems of statistical and quantum physics, and hydrodynamics. A self-contained book that provides a large amount of preliminary material and recent results which will serve to be a useful introduction to the subject and a valuable resource for further research. It will appeal to researchers, graduate and PhD students working in global analysis, stochastic analysis and mathematical physics.

During the weekend of March 16-18, 1990 the University of North Carolina at Charlotte hosted a conference on the subject of stochastic flows, as part of a Special Activity Month in the Department of Mathematics. This conference was supported jointly by a National Science Foundation grant and by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Originally conceived as a regional conference for researchers in the Southeastern United States, the conference eventually drew participation from both coasts of the U. S. and from abroad. This broad-based par ticipation reflects a growing interest in the viewpoint of stochastic flows, particularly in probability theory and more generally in mathematics as a whole. While the theory of deterministic flows can be considered classical, the stochastic counterpart has only been developed in the past decade, through the efforts of Harris, Kunita, Elworthy, Baxendale and others. Much of this work was done in close connection with the theory of diffusion processes, where dynamical systems implicitly enter probability theory by means of stochastic differential equations. In this regard, the Charlotte conference served as a natural outgrowth of the Conference on Diffusion Processes, held at Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois in October 1989, the proceedings of which has now been published as Volume I of the current series. Due to this natural flow of ideas, and with the assistance and support of the Editorial Board, it was decided to organize the present two-volume effort.