Jean Bertoin - Böcker

This 1996 book is a comprehensive account of the theory of Lévy processes. This branch of modern probability theory has been developed over recent years and has many applications in such areas as queues, mathematical finance and risk estimation. Professor Bertoin has used the powerful interplay between the probabilistic structure (independence and stationarity of the increments) and analytic tools (especially Fourier and Laplace transforms) to give a quick and concise treatment of the core theory, with the minimum of technical requirements. Special properties of subordinators are developed and then appear as key features in the study of the local times of real-valued Lévy processes and in fluctuation theory. Lévy processes with no positive jumps receive special attention, as do stable processes. In sum, this will become the standard reference on the subject for all working probability theorists.

Fragmentation and coagulation are two natural phenomena that can be observed in many sciences and at a great variety of scales - from, for example, DNA fragmentation to formation of planets by accretion. This book, by the author of the acclaimed Lévy Processes, is the first comprehensive theoretical account of mathematical models for situations where either phenomenon occurs randomly and repeatedly as time passes. This self-contained treatment develops the models in a way that makes recent developments in the field accessible. Each chapter ends with a comments section in which important aspects not discussed in the main part of the text (often because the discussion would have been too technical and/or lengthy) are addressed and precise references are given. Written for readers with a solid background in probability, its careful exposition allows graduate students, as well as working mathematicians, to approach the material with confidence.

Over the past 10-15 years, we have seen a revival of general Levy ' processes theory as well as a burst of new applications. In the past, Brownian motion or the Poisson process have been considered as appropriate models for most applications. Nowadays, the need for more realistic modelling of irregular behaviour of phen- ena in nature and society like jumps, bursts, and extremeshas led to a renaissance of the theory of general Levy ' processes. Theoretical and applied researchers in elds asdiverseas quantumtheory,statistical physics,meteorology,seismology,statistics, insurance, nance, and telecommunication have realised the enormous exibility of Lev ' y models in modelling jumps, tails, dependence and sample path behaviour. L' evy processes or Levy ' driven processes feature slow or rapid structural breaks, extremal behaviour, clustering, and clumping of points. Toolsandtechniquesfromrelatedbut disctinct mathematical elds, such as point processes, stochastic integration,probability theory in abstract spaces, and differ- tial geometry, have contributed to a better understanding of Le 'vy jump processes.As in many other elds, the enormous power of modern computers has also changed the view of Levy ' processes. Simulation methods for paths of Levy ' p- cesses and realisations of their functionals have been developed. Monte Carlo simulation makes it possible to determine the distribution of functionals of sample paths of Levy ' processes to a high level of accuracy.