The third edition of this volume improves on the last edition by condensing the material and organizing it into a more teachable format. It provides more in-depth coverage of Markov chains and simple Markov process and gives added emphasis to statistical inference in stochastic processes.

Develops an introductory and relatively simple account of the theory and application of the evolutionary type of stochastic process. Professor Bailey adopts the heuristic approach of applied mathematics and develops both theoretical principles and applied techniques simultaneously.

Stochastic processes are mathematical models of random phenomena that evolve according to prescribed dynamics. Processes commonly used in applications are Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, renewal and regenerative processes, Poisson processes, and Brownian motion. This volume gives an in-depth description of the structure and basic properties of these stochastic processes. A main focus is on equilibrium distributions, strong laws of large numbers, and ordinary and functional central limit theorems for cost and performance parameters. Although these results differ for various processes, they have a common trait of being limit theorems for processes with regenerative increments. Extensive examples and exercises show how to formulate stochastic models of systems as functions of a system’s data and dynamics, and how to represent and analyze cost and performance measures. Topics include stochastic networks, spatial and space-time Poisson processes, queueing, reversible processes, simulation, Brownian approximations, and varied Markovian models. The technical level of the volume is between that of introductory texts that focus on highlights of applied stochastic processes, and advanced texts that focus on theoretical aspects of processes.

Building upon the previous editions, this textbook is a first course in stochastic processes taken by undergraduate and graduate students (MS and PhD students from math, statistics, economics, computer science, engineering, and finance departments) who have had a course in probability theory. It covers Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, Poisson processes, renewal processes, martingales, and option pricing. One can only learn a subject by seeing it in action, so there are a large number of examples and more than 300 carefully chosen exercises to deepen the reader’s understanding. Drawing from teaching experience and student feedback, there are many new examples and problems with solutions that use TI-83 to eliminate the tedious details of solving linear equations by hand, and the collection of exercises is much improved, with many more biological examples. Originally included in previous editions, material too advanced for this first course in stochastic processes has been eliminated while treatment of other topics useful for applications has been expanded. In addition, the ordering of topics has been improved; for example, the difficult subject of martingales is delayed until its usefulness can be applied in the treatment of mathematical finance.

With this hands-on introduction readers will learn what SDEs are all about and how they should use them in practice.

This book develops systematically and rigorously, yet in an expository and lively manner, the evolution of general random processes and their large time properties such as transience, recurrence, and convergence to steady states. The emphasis is on the most important classes of these processes from the viewpoint of theory as well as applications, namely, Markov processes. The book features very broad coverage of the most applicable aspects of stochastic processes, including sufficient material for self-contained courses on random walks in one and multiple dimensions; Markov chains in discrete and continuous times, including birth-death processes; Brownian motion and diffusions; stochastic optimization; and stochastic differential equations. This book is for graduate students in mathematics, statistics, science and engineering, and it may also be used as a reference by professionals in diverse fields whose work involves the application of probability.

This book presents various results and techniques from the theory of stochastic processes that are useful in the study of stochastic problems in the natural sciences. The main focus is analytical methods, although numerical methods and statistical inference methodologies for studying diffusion processes are also presented. The goal is the development of techniques that are applicable to a wide variety of stochastic models that appear in physics, chemistry and other natural sciences. Applications such as stochastic resonance, Brownian motion in periodic potentials and Brownian motors are studied and the connection between diffusion processes and time-dependent statistical mechanics is elucidated. The book contains a large number of illustrations, examples, and exercises. It will be useful for graduate-level courses on stochastic processes for students in applied mathematics, physics and engineering. Many of the topics covered in this book (reversible diffusions, convergence to equilibrium for diffusion processes, inference methods for stochastic differential equations, derivation of the generalized Langevin equation, exit time problems) cannot be easily found in textbook form and will be useful to both researchers and students interested in the applications of stochastic processes.

Stochastic dynamics has been a subject of interest since the early 20th Century. Since then, much progress has been made in this field of study, and many modern applications for it have been found in fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, economy, finance, and many branches of engineering including Mechanical, Ocean, Civil, Bio, and Earthquake Engineering.Elements of Stochastic Dynamics aims to meet the growing need to understand and master the subject by introducing fundamentals to researchers who want to explore stochastic dynamics in their fields and serving as a textbook for graduate students in various areas involving stochastic uncertainties. All topics within are presented from an application approach, and may thus be more appealing to users without a background in pure Mathematics. The book describes the basic concepts and theories of random variables and stochastic processes in detail; provides various solution procedures for systems subjected to stochastic excitations; introduces stochastic stability and bifurcation; and explores failures of stochastic systems. The book also incorporates some latest research results in modeling stochastic processes; in reducing the system degrees of freedom; and in solving nonlinear problems. The book also provides numerical simulation procedures of widely-used random variables and stochastic processes.A large number of exercise problems are included in the book to aid the understanding of the concepts and theories, and may be used for as course homework.

Stochastic processes are necessary ingredients for building models of a wide variety of phenomena exhibiting time varying randomness. This text offers easy access to this fundamental topic for many students of applied sciences at many levels. It includes examples, exercises, applications, and computational procedures. It is uniquely useful for beginners and non-beginners in the field. No knowledge of measure theory is presumed.

An Introduction to Stochastic Modeling provides information pertinent to the standard concepts and methods of stochastic modeling. This book presents the rich diversity of applications of stochastic processes in the sciences. Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of diverse types of stochastic models, which predicts a set of possible outcomes weighed by their likelihoods or probabilities. This text then provides exercises in the applications of simple stochastic analysis to appropriate problems. Other chapters consider the study of general functions of independent, identically distributed, nonnegative random variables representing the successive intervals between renewals. This book discusses as well the numerous examples of Markov branching processes that arise naturally in various scientific disciplines. The final chapter deals with queueing models, which aid the design process by predicting system performance. This book is a valuable resource for students of engineering and management science. Engineers will also find this book useful.