Robert J. Plemmons - Böcker

Here is a valuable text and research tool for scientists and engineers who use or work with theory and computation associated with practical problems relating to Markov chains and queuing networks, economic analysis, or mathematical programming. Originally published in 1979, this new edition adds material that updates the subject relative to developments from 1979 to 1993.Theory and applications of nonnegative matrices are blended here, and extensive references are included in each area. You will be led from the theory of positive operators via the Perron-Frobenius theory of nonnegative matrices and the theory of inverse positivity, to the widely used topic of M-matrices. On the way, semigroups of nonnegative matrices and symmetric nonnegative matrices are discussed. Later, applications of nonnegativity and M-matrices are given; for numerical analysis the example is convergence theory of iterative methods, for probability and statistics the examples are finite Markov chains and queuing network models, for mathematical economics the example is input-output models, and for mathematical programming the example is the linear complementarity problem.Nonnegativity constraints arise very naturally throughout the physical world. Engineers, applied mathematicians, and scientists who encounter nonnegativity or generalizations of nonnegativity in their work will benefit from topics covered here, connecting them to relevant theory. Researchers in one area, such as queuing theory, may find useful the techniques involving nonnegative matrices used by researchers in another area, say, mathematical programming.Exercises and biographical notes are included with each chapter.

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications LINEAR ALGEBRA, MARKOV CHAINS, AND QUEUEING MODELS is based on the proceedings of a workshop which was an integral part of the 1991-92 IMA program on "Applied Linear Algebra". We thank Carl Meyer and R.J. Plemmons for editing the proceedings. We also take this opportunity to thank the National Science Founda­ tion, whose financial support made the workshop possible. A vner Friedman Willard Miller, Jr. xi PREFACE This volume contains some of the lectures given at the workshop Lin­ ear Algebra, Markov Chains, and Queueing Models held January 13-17, 1992, as part of the Year of Applied Linear Algebra at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications. Markov chains and queueing models play an increasingly important role in the understanding of complex systems such as computer, communi­ cation, and transportation systems. Linear algebra is an indispensable tool in such research, and this volume collects a selection of important papers in this area. The articles contained herein are representative of the underlying purpose of the workshop, which was to bring together practitioners and re­ searchers from the areas of linear algebra, numerical analysis, and queueing theory who share a common interest of analyzing and solving finite state Markov chains. The papers in this volume are grouped into three major categories-perturbation theory and error analysis, iterative methods, and applications regarding queueing models.