This concisely written book is a rigorous and self-contained introduction to the theory of continuous-time stochastic processes. Balancing theory and applications, the authors use stochastic methods and concrete examples to model real-world problems from engineering, biomathematics, biotechnology, and finance. Suitable as a textbook for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses, the work may also be used for self-study or as a reference. The book will be of interest to students, pure and applied mathematicians, and researchers or practitioners in mathematical finance, biomathematics, physics, and engineering.

Markov processes are among the most important stochastic processes for both theory and applications. This book develops the general theory of these processes, and applies this theory to various special examples.

Expanding on the first edition of An Introduction to Continuous-Time Stochastic Processes, this concisely written book is a rigorous and self-contained introduction to the theory of continuous-time stochastic processes. A balance of theory and applications, the work features concrete examples of modeling real-world problems from biology, medicine, industrial applications, finance, and insurance using stochastic methods. No previous knowledge of stochastic processes is required.

This textbook, now in its third edition, offers a rigorous and self-contained introduction to the theory of continuous-time stochastic processes, stochastic integrals, and stochastic differential equations. Expertly balancing theory and applications, the work features concrete examples of modeling real-world problems from biology, medicine, industrial applications, finance, and insurance using stochastic methods. No previous knowledge of stochastic processes is required.

Stochastic optimization problems arise in decision-making problems under uncertainty, and find various applications in economics and finance. On the other hand, problems in finance have recently led to new developments in the theory of stochastic control. This volume provides a systematic treatment of stochastic optimization problems applied to finance by presenting the different existing methods: dynamic programming, viscosity solutions, backward stochastic differential equations, and martingale duality methods. The theory is discussed in the context of recent developments in this field, with complete and detailed proofs, and is illustrated by means of concrete examples from the world of finance: portfolio allocation, option hedging, real options, optimal investment, etc. This book is directed towards graduate students and researchers in mathematical finance, and will also benefit applied mathematicians interested in financial applications and practitioners wishing to know more about the use of stochastic optimization methods in finance.

Based on a well-established and popular course taught by the authors over many years, Stochastic Processes: An Introduction, Third Edition, discusses the modelling and analysis of random experiments, where processes evolve over time. The text begins with a review of relevant fundamental probability. It then covers gambling problems, random walks, and Markov chains. The authors go on to discuss random processes continuous in time, including Poisson, birth and death processes, and general population models, and present an extended discussion on the analysis of associated stationary processes in queues. The book also explores reliability and other random processes, such as branching, martingales, and simple epidemics. A new chapter describing Brownian motion, where the outcomes are continuously observed over continuous time, is included. Further applications, worked examples and problems, and biographical details have been added to this edition. Much of the text has been reworked. The appendix contains key results in probability for reference. This concise, updated book makes the material accessible, highlighting simple applications and examples. A solutions manual with fully worked answers of all end-of-chapter problems, and Mathematica® and R programs illustrating many processes discussed in the book, can be downloaded from crcpress.com.

This book contains an introduction to three topics in stochastic control: discrete time stochastic control, i. e. , stochastic dynamic programming (Chapter 1), piecewise - terministic control problems (Chapter 3), and control of Ito diffusions (Chapter 4). The chapters include treatments of optimal stopping problems. An Appendix - calls material from elementary probability theory and gives heuristic explanations of certain more advanced tools in probability theory. The book will hopefully be of interest to students in several ?elds: economics, engineering, operations research, ?nance, business, mathematics. In economics and business administration, graduate students should readily be able to read it, and the mathematical level can be suitable for advanced undergraduates in mathem- ics and science. The prerequisites for reading the book are only a calculus course and a course in elementary probability. (Certain technical comments may demand a slightly better background. ) As this book perhaps (and hopefully) will be read by readers with widely diff- ing backgrounds, some general advice may be useful: Don’t be put off if paragraphs, comments, or remarks contain material of a seemingly more technical nature that you don’t understand. Just skip such material and continue reading, it will surely not be needed in order to understand the main ideas and results. The presentation avoids the use of measure theory.

The objective of this book is to introduce the elements of stochastic processes in a rather concise manner where we present the two most important parts — Markov chains and stochastic analysis. The readers are led directly to the core of the main topics to be treated in the context. Further details and additional materials are left to a section containing abundant exercises for further reading and studying.In the part on Markov chains, the focus is on the ergodicity. By using the minimal nonnegative solution method, we deal with the recurrence and various types of ergodicity. This is done step by step, from finite state spaces to denumerable state spaces, and from discrete time to continuous time. The methods of proofs adopt modern techniques, such as coupling and duality methods. Some very new results are included, such as the estimate of the spectral gap. The structure and proofs in the first part are rather different from other existing textbooks on Markov chains.In the part on stochastic analysis, we cover the martingale theory and Brownian motions, the stochastic integral and stochastic differential equations with emphasis on one dimension, and the multidimensional stochastic integral and stochastic equation based on semimartingales. We introduce three important topics here: the Feynman-Kac formula, random time transform and Girsanov transform. As an essential application of the probability theory in classical mathematics, we also deal with the famous Brunn-Minkowski inequality in convex geometry.This book also features modern probability theory that is used in different fields, such as MCMC, or even deterministic areas: convex geometry and number theory. It provides a new and direct routine for students going through the classical Markov chains to the modern stochastic analysis.

Clear presentation employs methods that recognize computer-related aspects of theory. Topics include expectations and independence, Bernoulli processes and sums of independent random variables, Markov chains, renewal theory, more. 1975 edition.