The Theory of Stochastic Processes i

In the Preface to the first edition, originally published in 1980, we mentioned that this book was based on the author's lectures in the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics of the Lomonosov University in Moscow, which were issued, in part, in mimeographed form under the title "Probabil­ ity, Statistics, and Stochastic Processors, I, II" and published by that Univer­ sity. Our original intention in writing the first edition of this book was to divide the contents into three parts: probability, mathematical statistics, and theory of stochastic processes, which corresponds to an outline of a three­ semester course of lectures for university students of mathematics. However, in the course of preparing the book, it turned out to be impossible to realize this intention completely, since a full exposition would have required too much space.

The Palm theory and the Loynes theory of stationary systems are the two pillars of the modern approach to queuing. This book, presenting the mathematical foundations of the theory of stationary queuing systems, contains a thorough treatment of both of these.

From the reviews to the first edition: Most of the literature about stochastic differential equations seems to place so much emphasis on rigor and completeness that it scares the nonexperts away. These notes are an attempt to approach the subject from the nonexpert point of view.: Not knowing anything … about a subject to start with, what would I like to know first of all. My answer would be: 1) In what situations does the subject arise ? 2) What are its essential features? 3) What are the applications and the connections to other fields?" The author, a lucid mind with a fine pedagocical instinct, has written a splendid text that achieves his aims set forward above. He starts out by stating six problems in the introduction in which stochastic differential equations play an essential role in the solution. Then, while developing stochastic calculus, he frequently returns to these problems and variants thereof and to many other problems to show how thetheory works and to motivate the next step in the theoretical development. Needless to say, he restricts himself to stochastic integration with respectto Brownian motion. He is not hesitant to give some basic results without proof in order to leave room for "some more basic applications"… It can be an ideal text for a graduate course, but it is also recommended to analysts (in particular, those working in differential equations and deterministic dynamical systems and control) who wish to learn quickly what stochastic differential equations are all about. From: Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum, Tom 50, 3-4, 1986.

Continuing the authors’ multivolume project, this text considers the theory of distributions from an applied perspective, demonstrating how effective a combination of analytic and probabilistic methods can be for solving problems in the physical and engineering sciences. Volume 1 covered foundational topics such as distributional and fractional calculus, the integral transform, and wavelets, and Volume 2 explored linear and nonlinear dynamics in continuous media.