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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 explores the most recent developments in the theory of planar quasiconformal mappings with a particular focus on the interactions with partial differential equations and nonlinear analysis. It gives a thorough and modern approach to the classical theory and presents important and compelling applications across a spectrum of mathematics: dynamical systems, singular integral operators, inverse problems, the geometry of mappings, and the calculus of variations. It also gives an account of recent advances in harmonic analysis and their applications in the geometric theory of mappings. The book explains that the existence, regularity, and singular set structures for second-order divergence-type equations--the most important class of PDEs in applications--are determined by the mathematics underpinning the geometry, structure, and dimension of fractal sets; moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces; and conformal dynamical systems. These topics are inextricably linked by the theory of quasiconformal mappings. Further, the interplay between them allows the authors to extend classical results to more general settings for wider applicability, providing new and often optimal answers to questions of existence, regularity, and geometric properties of solutions to nonlinear systems in both elliptic and degenerate elliptic settings.

This book makes a significant inroad into the unexpectedly difficult question of existence of Fréchet derivatives of Lipschitz maps of Banach spaces into higher dimensional spaces. Because the question turns out to be closely related to porous sets in Banach spaces, it provides a bridge between descriptive set theory and the classical topic of existence of derivatives of vector-valued Lipschitz functions. The topic is relevant to classical analysis and descriptive set theory on Banach spaces. The book opens several new research directions in this area of geometric nonlinear functional analysis. The new methods developed here include a game approach to perturbational variational principles that is of independent interest. Detailed explanation of the underlying ideas and motivation behind the proofs of the new results on Fréchet differentiability of vector-valued functions should make these arguments accessible to a wider audience. The most important special case of the differentiability results, that Lipschitz mappings from a Hilbert space into the plane have points of Fréchet differentiability, is given its own chapter with a proof that is independent of much of the work done to prove more general results. The book raises several open questions concerning its two main topics.

This is the first comprehensive reference published on heat equations associated with non self-adjoint uniformly elliptic operators. The author provides introductory materials for those unfamiliar with the underlying mathematics and background needed to understand the properties of heat equations. He then treatsLp properties of solutions to a wide class of heat equations that have been developed over the last fifteen years. These primarily concern the interplay of heat equations in functional analysis, spectral theory and mathematical physics. This book addresses new developments and applications of Gaussian upper bounds to spectral theory. In particular, it shows how such bounds can be used in order to proveLp estimates for heat, Schrödinger, and wave type equations. A significant part of the results have been proved during the last decade. The book will appeal to researchers in applied mathematics and functional analysis, and to graduate students who require an introductory text to sesquilinear form techniques, semigroups generated by second order elliptic operators in divergence form, heat kernel bounds, and their applications. It will also be of value to mathematical physicists. The author supplies readers with several references for the few standard results that are stated without proofs.

It is widely held that Bayesian decision theory is the final word on how a rational person should make decisions. However, Leonard Savage--the inventor of Bayesian decision theory--argued that it would be ridiculous to use his theory outside the kind of small world in which it is always possible to \"look before you leap.\" If taken seriously, this view makes Bayesian decision theory inappropriate for the large worlds of scientific discovery and macroeconomic enterprise. When is it correct to use Bayesian decision theory--and when does it need to be modified? Using a minimum of mathematics, Rational Decisions clearly explains the foundations of Bayesian decision theory and shows why Savage restricted the theory's application to small worlds.

Diffusive motion--displacement due to the cumulative effect of irregular fluctuations--has been a fundamental concept in mathematics and physics since Einstein's work on Brownian motion. It is also relevant to understanding various aspects of quantum theory. This book explains diffusive motion and its relation to both nonrelativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory. It shows how diffusive motion concepts lead to a radical reexamination of the structure of mathematical analysis. The book's inspiration is Princeton University mathematics professor Edward Nelson's influential work in probability, functional analysis, nonstandard analysis, stochastic mechanics, and logic. The book can be used as a tutorial or reference, or read for pleasure by anyone interested in the role of mathematics in science. Because of the application of diffusive motion to quantum theory, it will interest physicists as well as mathematicians. The introductory chapter describes the interrelationships between the various themes, many of which were first brought to light by Edward Nelson. In his writing and conversation, Nelson has always emphasized and relished the human aspect of mathematical endeavor. In his intellectual world, there is no sharp boundary between the mathematical, the cultural, and the spiritual. It is fitting that the final chapter provides a mathematical perspective on musical theory, one that reveals an unexpected connection with some of the book's main themes.

The results established in this book constitute a new departure in ergodic theory and a significant expansion of its scope. Traditional ergodic theorems focused on amenable groups, and relied on the existence of an asymptotically invariant sequence in the group, the resulting maximal inequalities based on covering arguments, and the transference principle. Here, Alexander Gorodnik and Amos Nevo develop a systematic general approach to the proof of ergodic theorems for a large class of non-amenable locally compact groups and their lattice subgroups. Simple general conditions on the spectral theory of the group and the regularity of the averaging sets are formulated, which suffice to guarantee convergence to the ergodic mean. In particular, this approach gives a complete solution to the problem of establishing mean and pointwise ergodic theorems for the natural averages on semisimple algebraic groups and on their discrete lattice subgroups. Furthermore, an explicit quantitative rate of convergence to the ergodic mean is established in many cases. The topic of this volume lies at the intersection of several mathematical fields of fundamental importance. These include ergodic theory and dynamics of non-amenable groups, harmonic analysis on semisimple algebraic groups and their homogeneous spaces, quantitative non-Euclidean lattice point counting problems and their application to number theory, as well as equidistribution and non-commutative Diophantine approximation. Many examples and applications are provided in the text, demonstrating the usefulness of the results established.

Diffusive motion--displacement due to the cumulative effect of irregular fluctuations--has been a fundamental concept in mathematics and physics since Einstein's work on Brownian motion. It is also relevant to understanding various aspects of quantum theory. This book explains diffusive motion and its relation to both nonrelativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory. It shows how diffusive motion concepts lead to a radical reexamination of the structure of mathematical analysis. The book's inspiration is Princeton University mathematics professor Edward Nelson's influential work in probability, functional analysis, nonstandard analysis, stochastic mechanics, and logic. The book can be used as a tutorial or reference, or read for pleasure by anyone interested in the role of mathematics in science. Because of the application of diffusive motion to quantum theory, it will interest physicists as well as mathematicians. The introductory chapter describes the interrelationships between the various themes, many of which were first brought to light by Edward Nelson. In his writing and conversation, Nelson has always emphasized and relished the human aspect of mathematical endeavor. In his intellectual world, there is no sharp boundary between the mathematical, the cultural, and the spiritual. It is fitting that the final chapter provides a mathematical perspective on musical theory, one that reveals an unexpected connection with some of the book's main themes.

Many parallels between complex dynamics and hyperbolic geometry have emerged in the past decade. Building on work of Sullivan and Thurston, this book gives a unified treatment of the construction of fixed-points for renormalization and the construction of hyperbolic 3- manifolds fibering over the circle. Both subjects are studied via geometric limits and rigidity. This approach shows open hyperbolic manifolds are inflexible, and yields quantitative counterparts to Mostow rigidity. In complex dynamics, it motivates the construction of towers of quadratic-like maps, and leads to a quantitative proof of convergence of renormalization.

This book is a spectacular introduction to the modern mathematical discipline known as the Theory of Games. Harold Kuhn first presented these lectures at Princeton University in 1952. They succinctly convey the essence of the theory, in part through the prism of the most exciting developments at its frontiers half a century ago. Kuhn devotes considerable space to topics that, while not strictly the subject matter of game theory, are firmly bound to it. These are taken mainly from the geometry of convex sets and the theory of probability distributions. The book opens by addressing \"matrix games,\" a name first introduced in these lectures as an abbreviation for two-person, zero-sum games in normal form with a finite number of pure strategies. It continues with a treatment of games in extensive form, using a model introduced by the author in 1950 that quickly supplanted von Neumann and Morgenstern's cumbersome approach. A final section deals with games that have an infinite number of pure strategies for the two players. Throughout, the theory is generously illustrated with examples, and exercises test the reader's understanding. A historical note caps off each chapter. For readers familiar with the calculus and with elementary matrix theory or vector analysis, this book offers an indispensable store of vital insights on a subject whose importance has only grown with the years.