First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book provides a unified presentation of first-passage processes, which highlights its interrelations with electrostatics and the resulting powerful consequences. The author begins with a presentation of fundamental theory including the connection between the occupation and first-passage probabilities of a random walk, and the connection to electrostatics and current flows in resistor networks. The consequences of this theory are then developed for simple, illustrative geometries including the finite and semi-infinite intervals, fractal networks, spherical geometries and the wedge. Various applications are presented including neuron dynamics, self-organized criticality, diffusion-limited aggregation, the dynamics of spin systems and the kinetics of diffusion-controlled reactions. First-passage processes provide an appealing way for graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance to understand all of these systems.

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book provides a unified presentation of first-passage processes, which highlights its interrelations with electrostatics and the resulting powerful consequences. The author begins with a presentation of fundamental theory including the connection between the occupation and first-passage probabilities of a random walk, and the connection to electrostatics and current flows in resistor networks. The consequences of this theory are then developed for simple, illustrative geometries including the finite and semi-infinite intervals, fractal networks, spherical geometries and the wedge. Various applications are presented including neuron dynamics, self-organized criticality, diffusion-limited aggregation, the dynamics of spin systems and the kinetics of diffusion-controlled reactions. First-passage processes provide an appealing way for graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance to understand all of these systems.

Aimed at graduate students, this book explores some of the core phenomena in non-equilibrium statistical physics. It focuses on the development and application of theoretical methods to help students develop their problem-solving skills. The book begins with microscopic transport processes: diffusion, collision-driven phenomena, and exclusion. It then presents the kinetics of aggregation, fragmentation and adsorption, where the basic phenomenology and solution techniques are emphasized. The following chapters cover kinetic spin systems, both from a discrete and a continuum perspective, the role of disorder in non-equilibrium processes, hysteresis from the non-equilibrium perspective, the kinetics of chemical reactions, and the properties of complex networks. The book contains 200 exercises to test students' understanding of the subject. A link to a website hosted by the authors, containing supplementary material including solutions to some of the exercises, can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521851039.

This second edition provides a comprehensive and unified presentation of the theory and applications of first-passage processes. It begins by developing the phenomenology from basic principles and illustrating it via the first-passage properties of the interval, the semi-infinite line, spherical geometries, unbounded domains, and bounded two-dimensional domains. Dedicated sections describe first-passage processes in many types of systems, including complete and nearly complete graphs, the Erdős-Renyi graph, the Cayley tree, and hierarchical networks. The new edition has been substantially revised and expanded to include new sections on the martingale method, heterogeneity, and other important concepts. A wide range of new applications are discussed, such as queueing, birth-death reactions, the Polya urn, resetting, chemoreception, search processes, and the 'hot hand' paradox. The book's accessible style makes it a valuable resource for researchers and students in statistical and mathematical physics, chemistry, engineering, and all other fields in which first-passage problems arise.

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book provides a unified presentation of first-passage processes, which highlights its interrelations with electrostatics and the resulting powerful consequences. The author begins with a presentation of fundamental theory including the connection between the occupation and first-passage probabilities of a random walk, and the connection to electrostatics and current flows in resistor networks. The consequences of this theory are then developed for simple, illustrative geometries including the finite and semi-infinite intervals, fractal networks, spherical geometries and the wedge. Various applications are presented including neuron dynamics, self-organized criticality, diffusion-limited aggregation, the dynamics of spin systems and the kinetics of diffusion-controlled reactions. First-passage processes provide an appealing way for graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance to understand all of these systems.

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book provides a unified presentation of first-passage processes, which highlights its interrelations with electrostatics and the resulting powerful consequences. The author begins with a presentation of fundamental theory including the connection between the occupation and first-passage probabilities of a random walk, and the connection to electrostatics and current flows in resistor networks. The consequences of this theory are then developed for simple, illustrative geometries including the finite and semi-infinite intervals, fractal networks, spherical geometries and the wedge. Various applications are presented including neuron dynamics, self-organized criticality, diffusion-limited aggregation, the dynamics of spin systems and the kinetics of diffusion-controlled reactions. First-passage processes provide an appealing way for graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance to understand all of these systems.

Aimed at graduate students, this book explores some of the core phenomena in non-equilibrium statistical physics. It focuses on the development and application of theoretical methods to help students develop their problem-solving skills. The book begins with microscopic transport processes: diffusion, collision-driven phenomena, and exclusion. It then presents the kinetics of aggregation, fragmentation and adsorption, where the basic phenomenology and solution techniques are emphasized. The following chapters cover kinetic spin systems, both from a discrete and a continuum perspective, the role of disorder in non-equilibrium processes, hysteresis from the non-equilibrium perspective, the kinetics of chemical reactions, and the properties of complex networks. The book contains 200 exercises to test students' understanding of the subject. A link to a website hosted by the authors, containing supplementary material including solutions to some of the exercises, can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521851039.

This second edition provides a comprehensive and unified presentation of the theory and applications of first-passage processes. It begins by developing the phenomenology from basic principles and illustrating it via the first-passage properties of the interval, the semi-infinite line, spherical geometries, unbounded domains, and bounded two-dimensional domains. Dedicated sections describe first-passage processes in many types of systems, including complete and nearly complete graphs, the Erdős-Renyi graph, the Cayley tree, and hierarchical networks. The new edition has been substantially revised and expanded to include new sections on the martingale method, heterogeneity, and other important concepts. A wide range of new applications are discussed, such as queueing, birth-death reactions, the Polya urn, resetting, chemoreception, search processes, and the 'hot hand' paradox. The book's accessible style makes it a valuable resource for researchers and students in statistical and mathematical physics, chemistry, engineering, and all other fields in which first-passage problems arise.