This book gives a comprehensive and self-contained introduction to the theory of symmetric Markov processes and symmetric quasi-regular Dirichlet forms. In a detailed and accessible manner, Zhen-Qing Chen and Masatoshi Fukushima cover the essential elements and applications of the theory of symmetric Markov processes, including recurrence/transience criteria, probabilistic potential theory, additive functional theory, and time change theory. The authors develop the theory in a general framework of symmetric quasi-regular Dirichlet forms in a unified manner with that of regular Dirichlet forms, emphasizing the role of extended Dirichlet spaces and the rich interplay between the probabilistic and analytic aspects of the theory. Chen and Fukushima then address the latest advances in the theory, presented here for the first time in any book. Topics include the characterization of time-changed Markov processes in terms of Douglas integrals and a systematic account of reflected Dirichlet spaces, and the important roles such advances play in the boundary theory of symmetric Markov processes. This volume is an ideal resource for researchers and practitioners, and can also serve as a textbook for advanced graduate students. It includes examples, appendixes, and exercises with solutions.

This book gives a comprehensive and self-contained introduction to the theory of symmetric Markov processes and symmetric quasi-regular Dirichlet forms. In a detailed and accessible manner, Zhen-Qing Chen and Masatoshi Fukushima cover the essential elements and applications of the theory of symmetric Markov processes, including recurrence/transience criteria, probabilistic potential theory, additive functional theory, and time change theory. The authors develop the theory in a general framework of symmetric quasi-regular Dirichlet forms in a unified manner with that of regular Dirichlet forms, emphasizing the role of extended Dirichlet spaces and the rich interplay between the probabilistic and analytic aspects of the theory. Chen and Fukushima then address the latest advances in the theory, presented here for the first time in any book. Topics include the characterization of time-changed Markov processes in terms of Douglas integrals and a systematic account of reflected Dirichlet spaces, and the important roles such advances play in the boundary theory of symmetric Markov processes. This volume is an ideal resource for researchers and practitioners, and can also serve as a textbook for advanced graduate students. It includes examples, appendixes, and exercises with solutions.

Since the publication of the first edition in 1994, this book has attracted constant interests from readers and is by now regarded as a standard reference for the theory of Dirichlet forms. For the present second edition, the authors not only revise

This monograph treats the theory of Dirichlet forms from a comprehensive point of view, using "nonstandard analysis." Thus, it is close in spirit to the discrete classical formulation of Dirichlet space theory by Beurling and Deny (1958). The discrete infinitesimal setup makes it possible to study the diffusion and the jump part using essentially the same methods. This setting has the advantage of being independent of special topological properties of the state space and in this sense is a natural one, valid for both finite- and infinite-dimensional spaces. The present monograph provides a thorough treatment of the symmetric as well as the non-symmetric case, surveys the theory of hyperfinite Lévy processes, and summarizes in an epilogue the model-theoretic genericity of hyperfinite stochastic processes theory.

This volume concentrates on how to construct a Markov process by starting with a suitable pseudo-differential operator. Feller processes, Hunt processes associated with Lp-sub-Markovian semigroups and processes constructed by using the Martingale problem are at the center of the considerations. The potential theory of these processes is further developed and applications are discussed. Due to the non-locality of the generators, the processes are jump processes and their relations to Levy processes are investigated. Special emphasis is given to the symbol of a process, a notion which generalizes that of the characteristic exponent of a Levy process and provides a natural link to pseudo-differential operator theory.

This volume concentrates on how to construct a Markov process by starting with a suitable pseudo-differential operator. Feller processes, Hunt processes associated with Lp-sub-Markovian semigroups and processes constructed by using the Martingale problem are at the center of the considerations. The potential theory of these processes is further developed and applications are discussed. Due to the non-locality of the generators, the processes are jump processes and their relations to Levy processes are investigated. Special emphasis is given to the symbol of a process, a notion which generalizes that of the characteristic exponent of a Levy process and provides a natural link to pseudo-differential operator theory./a