Stochastic Modeling

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.

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.

Coherent introduction to techniques also offers a guide to the mathematical, numerical, and simulation tools of systems analysis. Includes formulation of models, analysis, and interpretation of results. 1995 edition.

A First Course in Probability with an Emphasis on Stochastic Modeling Probability and Stochastic Modeling not only covers all the topics found in a traditional introductory probability course, but also emphasizes stochastic modeling, including Markov chains, birth-death processes, and reliability models. Unlike most undergraduate-level probability texts, the book also focuses on increasingly important areas, such as martingales, classification of dependency structures, and risk evaluation. Numerous examples, exercises, and models using real-world data demonstrate the practical possibilities and restrictions of different approaches and help students grasp general concepts and theoretical results. The text is suitable for majors in mathematics and statistics as well as majors in computer science, economics, finance, and physics. The author offers two explicit options to teaching the material, which is reflected in "routes" designated by special "roadside" markers. The first route contains basic, self-contained material for a one-semester course. The second provides a more complete exposition for a two-semester course or self-study.

Markov processes are processes that have limited memory. In particular, their dependence on the past is only through the previous state. They are used to model the behavior of many systems including communications systems, transportation networks, image segmentation and analysis, biological systems and DNA sequence analysis, random atomic motion and diffusion in physics, social mobility, population studies, epidemiology, animal and insect migration, queueing systems, resource management, dams, financial engineering, actuarial science, and decision systems. Covering a wide range of areas of application of Markov processes, this second edition is revised to highlight the most important aspects as well as the most recent trends and applications of Markov processes. The author spent over 16 years in the industry before returning to academia, and he has applied many of the principles covered in this book in multiple research projects. Therefore, this is an applications-oriented book that also includes enough theory to provide a solid ground in the subject for the reader. Presents both the theory and applications of the different aspects of Markov processes Includes numerous solved examples as well as detailed diagrams that make it easier to understand the principle being presented Discusses different applications of hidden Markov models, such as DNA sequence analysis and speech analysis.

Stochastic Modeling: A Thorough Guide to Evaluate, Pre-Process, Model and Compare Time Series with MATLAB Software allows for new avenues in time series analysis and predictive modeling which summarize more than ten years of experience in the application of stochastic models in environmental problems. The book introduces a variety of different topics in time series in the modeling and prediction of complex environmental systems. Most importantly, all codes are user-friendly and readers will be able to use them for their cases. Users who may not be familiar with MATLAB software can also refer to the appendix. This book also guides the reader step-by-step to learn developed codes for time series modeling, provides required toolboxes, explains concepts, and applies different tools for different types of environmental time series problems. Provides video tutorials on the use of codes Includes a companion site with 3,000 lines of programming, 70 principal codes and 100 pseudo codes Highlights multiple methods to Illustrate each problem

Stochastic models are everywhere. In manufacturing, queuing models are used for modeling production processes, realistic inventory models are stochastic in nature. Stochastic models are considered in transportation and communication. Marketing models use stochastic descriptions of the demands and buyer's behaviors. In finance, market prices and exchange rates are assumed to be certain stochastic processes, and insurance claims appear at random times with random amounts. To each decision problem, a cost function is associated. Costs may be direct or indirect, like loss of time, quality deterioration, loss in production or dissatisfaction of customers. In decision making under uncertainty, the goal is to minimize the expected costs. However, in practically all realistic models, the calculation of the expected costs is impossible due to the model complexity. Simulation is the only practicable way of getting insight into such models. Thus, the problem of optimal decisions can be seen as getting simulation and optimization effectively combined. The field is quite new and yet the number of publications is enormous. This book does not even try to touch all work done in this area. Instead, many concepts are presented and treated with mathematical rigor and necessary conditions for the correctness of various approaches are stated. Optimization of Stochastic Models: The Interface Between Simulation and Optimization is suitable as a text for a graduate level course on Stochastic Models or as a secondary text for a graduate level course in Operations Research.