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Frederick Mosteller has inspired numerous statisticians and other scientists by his creative approach to statistics and its applications. This volume brings together 40 of his most original and influential papers, capturing the variety and depth of his writings. The editors hope to share these with a new generation of researchers, so that they can build upon his insights and efforts. This volume of selected papers is a companion to the earlier volume A Statistical Model: Frederick Mosteller's Contributions to Statistics, Science, and Public Policy, edited by Stephen E. Fienberg, David C. Hoaglin, William H. Kruskal, and Judith M. Tanur (Springer-Verlag, 1990), and to Mosteller's forthcoming autobiography, which will also be published by Springer-Verlag. It includes a biography and a comprehensive bibliography of Mosteller's books, papers, and other writings. Stephen E. Fienberg is Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics and Social Science, in the Departments of Statistics and Machine Learning at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. David C. Hoaglin is Principal Scientist at Abt Associates Inc., Cambridge, MA.

This monograph is, as far as the author has gathered, the second of its kind (the first one was published by Nova in 2017 with coauthors Hamedani and Maadooliat) which presents various characterizations of a wide variety of continuous distributions. These two monographs could also be used as sources to prevent reinventing and duplicating the already exiting distributions. The current book consists of seven chapters. The first chapter lists cumulative and density functions of two hundred and twenty univariate distributions. Chapter two provides characterizations of these distributions: (i) based on the ration of two truncated moments; (ii) in terms of the hazard function; (iii) in terms of the reverse hazard function; (iv) based on the conditional expectation of certain functions of the random variable. Chapter three includes the characterizations of twenty distributions, which appeared in a published paper (Hamedani and Safavimanesh, 2017). Chapter four presents characterizations of thirty six distributions, contains a published paper (Hamedani, 2017). Chapter five covers the characterizations of forty one distributions, which appeared in a published paper (Hamedani, 2018a). Chapter six presents characterizations of eighty distributions, contained in a published paper (Hamedani, 2018b). Finally, chapter seven consists of seventy proposed distributions. The main reason to include previously published papers in Chapters 3-6 is to provide a rather complete source for the interested researchers who would want to avoid reinventing the existing distributions.

As mentioned in previous monographs (I, II, and III), in designing a stochastic model for a particular modeling problem, an investigator will be vitally interested to know if their model fits the requirements of a specific underlying probability distribution. To this end, the investigator will rely on the characterizations of the selected distribution. Generally speaking, the problem of characterizing a distribution is an important problem in various fields and has recently attracted the attention of many researchers. Consequently, various characterization results have been reported in the literature. These characterizations have been established in many different directions. The present work deals with the characterization of a 800 newly proposed univariate continuous distributions as they became available to the author rather than the order of their importance. This work is a continuation of our previous works (Hamedani and Safavimanesh, 2017), (Hamedani, 2017), (Hamedani and Maadooliat, 2017), (Hamedani, 2018a), (Hamedani, 2018b), (Hamedani 2019) and (Hamedani 2021) on the characterizations of distributions introduced in 2019-2021. The current work and the previous published papers mentioned above may serve as a source of preventing the reinvention and/or duplication of the existing distributions in the future.

This book presents a collection of selected papers that represent the current variety of research on the teaching and learning of probability. The respective chapters address a diverse range of theoretical, empirical and practical aspects underpinning the teaching and learning of probability, curricular issues, probabilistic reasoning, misconceptions and biases, as well as their pedagogical implications. These chapters are divided into THREE main sections, dealing with: TEACHING PROBABILITY, STUDENTS'REASONING AND LEARNING AND EDUCATION OF TEACHERS.In brief, the papers presented here include research dealing with teachers and students at different levels and ages (from primary school to university) and address epistemological and curricular analysis, as well as the role of technology, simulations, language and visualisation in teaching and learning probability. As such, it offers essential information for teachers, researchers and curricular designers alike.

This book discusses recent developments and contemporary research in mathematics, statistics and their applications in computing. All contributing authors are eminent academicians, scientists, researchers and scholars in their respective fields, hailing from around the world. This is the second conference on mathematics and computing organized at Haldia Institute of Technology, India. The conference has emerged as a powerful forum, offering researchers a venue to discuss, interact and collaborate, and stimulating the advancement of mathematics and its applications in computer science. The book will allow aspiring researchers to update their knowledge of cryptography, algebra, frame theory, optimizations, stochastic processes, compressive sensing, functional analysis, complex variables, etc. Educating future consumers, users, producers, developers and researchers in mathematics and computing is a challenging task and essential to the development of modern society. Hence, mathematics and its applications in computing are of vital importance to a broad range of communities, including mathematicians and computing professionals across different educational levels and disciplines.In current research, modeling and simulation, making decisions under uncertainty and pattern recognition have become very common. Professionals across different educational levels and disciplines need exposure to advances in mathematics and computing. In this context, this book presents research papers on applicable areas of current interest. It also includes papers in which experts summarize research findings, such as signal processing and analysis and low-rank-matrix approximation for solving large systems, which will emerge as powerful tools for further research. These new advances and cutting-edge research in the fields of mathematics and their applications to computing are of paramount importance for young researchers.

In multivariate statistical analysis, elliptical distributions have recently provided an alternative to the normal model. Most of the work, however, is spread out in journals throughout the world and is not easily accessible to the investigators. Fang, Kotz, and Ng presented a systematic study of multivariate elliptical distributions, however, they did not discuss the matrix variate case. Recently Fang and Zhang have summarized the results of generalized multivariate analysis which include vector as well as the matrix variate distributions. On the other hand, Fang and Anderson collected research papers on matrix variate elliptical distributions, many of them published for the first time in English. They published very rich material on the topic, but the results are given in paper form which does not provide a unified treatment of the theory. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to collect the most important results on the theory of matrix variate elliptically contoured distributions available in the literature and organize them in a unified manner that can serve as an introduction to the subject. The book will be useful for researchers, teachers, and graduate students in statistics and related fields whose interests involve multivariate statistical analysis. Parts of this book were presented by Arjun K Gupta as a one semester course at Bowling Green State University. Some new results have also been included which generalize the results in Fang and Zhang. Knowledge of matrix algebra and statistics at the level of Anderson is assumed. However, Chapter 1 summarizes some results of matrix algebra.

Generalized Gamma convolutions were introduced by Olof Thorin in 1977 and were used by him to show that, in particular, the Lognormal distribution is infinitely divisible. After that a large number of papers rapidly appeared with new results in a somewhat random order. Many of the papers appeared in the Scandinavian Actuarial Journal. This work is an attempt to present the main results on this class of probability distributions and related classes in a rather logical order. The goal has been to be on a level that is not too advanced. However, since the field is rather technical, most readers will find difficult passages in the text. Those who do not want to visit a mysterious land situated between the land of probability theory and statistics and the land of classical analysis should not look at this work. When some years ago I submitted a survey to a journal it was suggested by the editor, K. Krickeberg, that it should be expanded to a book. However, at that time I was rather reluctant to do so since there remained so many problems to be solved or to be solved in a smoother way than before. Moreover, there was at that time some lack of probabilistic interpretations and applications. Many of the problems are now solved but still it is felt that more applications than those presented in the work could be found.

'Written by a well-known expert in fractional stochastic calculus, this book offers a comprehensive overview of Gaussian analysis, with particular emphasis on nonlinear Gaussian functionals. In addition, it covers some topics that are not frequently encountered in other treatments, such as Littlewood-Paley-Stein, etc. This coverage makes the book a valuable addition to the literature. Many results presented in this book were hitherto available only in the research literature in the form of research papers by the author and his co-authors.'Mathematical Reviews ClippingsAnalysis of functions on the finite dimensional Euclidean space with respect to the Lebesgue measure is fundamental in mathematics. The extension to infinite dimension is a great challenge due to the lack of Lebesgue measure on infinite dimensional space. Instead the most popular measure used in infinite dimensional space is the Gaussian measure, which has been unified under the terminology of'abstract Wiener space'.Out of the large amount of work on this topic, this book presents some fundamental results plus recent progress. We shall present some results on the Gaussian space itself such as the Brunn-Minkowski inequality, Small ball estimates, large tail estimates. The majority part of this book is devoted to the analysis of nonlinear functions on the Gaussian space. Derivative, Sobolev spaces are introduced, while the famous Poincaré inequality, logarithmic inequality, hypercontractive inequality, Meyer's inequality, Littlewood-Paley-Stein-Meyer theory are given in details.This book includes some basic material that cannot be found elsewhere that the author believes should be an integral part of the subject. For example, the book includes some interesting and important inequalities, the Littlewood-Paley-Stein-Meyer theory, and the Hörmander theorem. The book also includes some recent progress achieved by the author and collaborators on density convergence, numerical solutions, local times.

This Festschrift resulted from a workshop on “Advanced Modelling in Mathematical Finance” held in honour of Ernst Eberlein's 70th birthday, from 20 to 22 May 2015 in Kiel, Germany. It includes contributions by several invited speakers at the workshop, including several of Ernst Eberlein's long-standing collaborators and former students.Advanced mathematical techniques play an ever-increasing role in modern quantitative finance. Written by leading experts from academia and financial practice, this book offers state-of-the-art papers on the application of jump processes in mathematical finance, on term-structure modelling, and on statistical aspects of financial modelling. It is aimed at graduate students and researchers interested in mathematical finance, as well as practitioners wishing to learn about the latest developments.

This brief is concerned with tempered stable distributions and their associated Levy processes. It is a good text for researchers interested in learning about tempered stable distributions. A tempered stable distribution is one which takes a stable distribution and modifies its tails to make them lighter. The motivation for this class comes from the fact that infinite variance stable distributions appear to provide a good fit to data in a variety of situations, but the extremely heavy tails of these models are not realistic for most real world applications. The idea of using distributions that modify the tails of stable models to make them lighter seems to have originated in the influential paper of Mantegna and Stanley (1994). Since then, these distributions have been extended and generalized in a variety of ways. They have been applied to a wide variety of areas including mathematical finance, biostatistics,computer science, and physics.

While the primary purpose of the book is a celebration of John's contributions to the field of measurement, a second and related purpose is to provide a useful resource. We believe that the combination of the developmental history and theory of the method, the examples of its use in practice, some possible future directions, and software and data files will make this book a valuable resource for teachers and scholars of the Rasch method. This book is a tribute to Professor John P Keeves for the advocacy of the Rasch model in Australia. Happy 80th birthday John! xii There are good introductory texts on Item Response Theory, Objective Measurement and the Rasch model. However, for a beginning researcher keen on utilising the potentials of the Rasch model, theoretical discussions of test theory and associated indices do not meet their pragmatic needs. Furthermore, many researchers in measurement still have little or no knowledge of the features of the Rasch model and its use in a variety of situations and disciplines. This book attempts to describe the underlying axioms of test theory, and, in particular, the concepts of objective measurement and the Rasch model, and then link theory to practice. We have been introduced to the various models of test theory during our graduate days. It was time for us to share with those keen in the field of measurement in education, psychology and the social sciences the theoretical and practical aspects of objective measurement.

Sergei Kuznetsov is one of the top experts on measure valued branching processes (also known as “superprocesses”) and their connection to nonlinear partial differential operators. His research interests range from stochastic processes and partial differential equations to mathematical statistics, time series analysis and statistical software; he has over 90 papers published in international research journals. His most well known contribution to probability theory is the'Kuznetsov-measure.'A conference honoring his 60th birthday has been organized at Boulder, Colorado in the summer of 2010, with the participation of Sergei Kuznetsov's mentor and major co-author, Eugene Dynkin. The conference focused on topics related to superprocesses, branching diffusions and nonlinear partial differential equations. In particular, connections to the so-called “Kuznetsov-measure” were emphasized. Leading experts in the field as well as young researchers contributed to the conference. The meeting was organized by J. Englander and B. Rider (U. of Colorado).

This book focuses mainly on fractional Brownian fields and their extensions. It has been used to teach graduate students at Grenoble and Toulouse's Universities. It is as self-contained as possible and contains numerous exercises, with solutions in an appendix. After a foreword by Stéphane Jaffard, a long first chapter is devoted to classical results from stochastic fields and fractal analysis. A central notion throughout this book is self-similarity, which is dealt with in a second chapter with a particular emphasis on the celebrated Gaussian self-similar fields, called fractional Brownian fields after Mandelbrot and Van Ness's seminal paper. Fundamental properties of fractional Brownian fields are then stated and proved. The second central notion of this book is the so-called local asymptotic self-similarity (in short lass), which is a local version of self-similarity, defined in the third chapter. A lengthy study is devoted to lass fields with finite variance. Among these lass fields, we find both Gaussian fields and non-Gaussian fields, called Lévy fields. The Lévy fields can be viewed as bridges between fractional Brownian fields and stable self-similar fields. A further key issue concerns the identification of fractional parameters. This is the raison d'être of the statistics chapter, where generalized quadratic variations methods are mainly used for estimating fractional parameters. Last but not least, the simulation is addressed in the last chapter. Unlike the previous issues, the simulation of fractional fields is still an area of ongoing research. The algorithms presented in this chapter are efficient but do not claim to close the debate.

Every finance professional wants and needs a competitive edge. A firm foundation in advanced mathematics can translate into dramatic advantages to professionals willing to obtain it. Many are not—and that is the competitive edge these books offer the astute reader.Published under the collective title of Foundations of Quantitative Finance, this set of ten books develops the advanced topics in mathematics that finance professionals need to advance their careers. These books expand the theory most do not learn in graduate finance programs, or in most financial mathematics undergraduate and graduate courses.As an investment executive and authoritative instructor, Robert R. Reitano presents the mathematical theories he encountered and used in nearly three decades in the financial services industry and two decades in academia where he taught in highly respected graduate programs.Readers should be quantitatively literate and familiar with the developments in the earlier books in the set. While the set offers a continuous progression through these topics, each title can be studied independently.Features Extensively referenced to materials from earlier books Presents the theory needed to support advanced applications Supplements previous training in mathematics, with more detailed developments Built from the author's five decades of experience in industry, research, and teaching Published and forthcoming titles in the Robert R. Reitano Quantitative Finance Series:Book I: Measure Spaces and Measurable FunctionsBook II: Probability Spaces and Random VariablesBook III: The Integrals of Riemann, Lebesgue and (Riemann-)StieltjesBook IV: Distribution Functions and ExpectationsBook V: General Measure and Integration TheoryBook VI: Densities, Transformed Distributions, and Limit TheoremsBook VII: Brownian Motion and Other Stochastic ProcessesBook VIII: Itô Integration and Stochastic Calculus 1Book IX: Stochastic Calculus 2 and Stochastic Differential EquationsBook X: Classical Models and Applications in Finance

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) is a challenging problem in machine learning where the model is trained on a source domain with labeled data and tested on a target domain with unlabeled data. In recent years, UDA has received significant attention from the research community due to its applicability in various real-world scenarios. This book provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art UDA methods and explores new variants of UDA that have the potential to advance the field. The book begins with a clear introduction to the UDA problem and is mainly organized into four technical sections, each focused on a specific piece of UDA research. The first section covers criterion optimization-based UDA, which aims to learn domain-invariant representations by minimizing the discrepancy between source and target domains. The second section discusses bi-classifier adversarial learning-based UDA, which creatively leverages adversarial learning by conducting a minimax game between the feature extractor and two task classifiers. The third section introduces source-free UDA, a novel UDA setting that does not require any raw data from the source domain. The fourth section presents active learning for UDA, which combines domain adaptation and active learning to reduce the amount of labeled data needed for adaptation. This book is suitable for researchers, graduate students, and practitioners who are interested in UDA and its applications in various fields, primarily in computer vision. The chapters are authored by leading experts in the field and provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the current UDA methods and new directions for future research. With its broad coverage and cutting-edge research, this book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to advance their knowledge of UDA.

This book is devoted to the study of multivariate discrete q-distributions, which is greatly facilitated by existing multivariate q-sequences and q-functions. Classical multivariate discrete distributions are defined on a sequence of independent and identically distributed Bernoulli trials, with either being a success of a certain rank (level) or a failure. The author relaxes the assumption that the probability of success of a trial is constant by assuming that it varies geometrically with the number of trials and/or the number of successes. The latter is advantageous in the sense that it permits incorporating the experience gained from the previous trials and/or successes, which leads to multivariate discrete q-distributions. Furthermore, q-multinomial and negative q-multinomial formulae are obtained. Next, the book addresses q-multinomial and negative q-multinomial distributions of the first and second kind. The author also examines multiple q-Polya urn model, multivariate q-Polya and inverse q-Polya distributions. Presents definitions and theorems that highlight key concepts and worked examples to illustrate the various applicationsContains numerous exercises at varying levels of difficulty that consolidate the presented concepts and resultsIncludes hints and answers to all exercises via the appendix and is supplemented with an Instructor's Solution Manual

This book presents a unified description of binding equilibrium for a wide variety of systems focusing on acid-base and coordination chemistry, adsorption at interfaces, and electron binding in electrochemistry. It overviews more complex phenomena such as competitive binding to different sites and of different ligands. Multiple sites such as those occurring in macromolecules, colloidal oxides, humid substances, and proteins are briefly discussed and many experimental results for these types of systems are analyzed. Titrations and consideration of the distribution of binding constants are also presented. The book is mainly directed at undergraduate/graduate students of chemistry, biology, and earth sciences. It is supplementary to the standard physical and analytical chemistry courses and will help both students and teachers get a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the systems analyzed.

This book provides a compact and systematic overview of closure properties of heavy-tailed and related distributions, including closure under tail equivalence, convolution, finite mixing, maximum, minimum, convolution power and convolution roots, and product-convolution closure. It includes examples and counterexamples that give an insight into the theory and provides numerous references to technical details and proofs for a deeper study of the subject. The book will serve as a useful reference for graduate students, young researchers, and applied scientists.

It is well known that if two independent identically distributed random variables are Gaussian, then their sum and difference are also independent. It turns out that only Gaussian random variables have such property. This statement, known as the famous Kac-Bernstein theorem, is a typical example of a so-called characterization theorem. Characterization theorems in mathematical statistics are statements in which the description of possible distributions of random variables follows from properties of some functions of these random variables. The first results in this area are associated with famous 20th century mathematicians such as G. Pólya, M. Kac, S. N. Bernstein, and Yu. V. Linnik. By now, the corresponding theory on the real line has basically been constructed. The problem of extending the classical characterization theorems to various algebraic structures has been actively studied in recent decades. The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive and self-contained overview of the current state of the theory of characterization problems on locally compact Abelian groups. The book will be useful to everyone with some familiarity of abstract harmonic analysis who is interested in probability distributions and functional equations on groups.

This book gives a lively development of the mathematics needed to answer the question, “How many times should a deck of cards be shuffled to mix it up?” The shuffles studied are the usual ones that real people use: riffle, overhand, and smooshing cards around on the table. The mathematics ranges from probability (Markov chains) to combinatorics (symmetric function theory) to algebra (Hopf algebras). There are applications to magic tricks and gambling along with a careful comparison of the mathematics to the results of real people shuffling real cards. The book explores links between shuffling and higher mathematics—Lie theory, algebraic topology, the geometry of hyperplane arrangements, stochastic calculus, number theory, and more. It offers a useful springboard for seeing how probability theory is applied and leads to many corners of advanced mathematics. The book can serve as a text for an upper division course in mathematics, statistics, or computer science departments and will be appreciated by graduate students and researchers in mathematics, statistics, and computer science, as well as magicians and people with a strong background in mathematics who are interested in games that use playing cards.

Every finance professional wants and needs a competitive edge. A firm foundation in advanced mathematics can translate into dramatic advantages to professionals willing to obtain it. Many are not—and that is the competitive edge these books offer the astute reader.Published under the collective title of Foundations of Quantitative Finance, this set of ten books develops the advanced topics in mathematics that finance professionals need to advance their careers. These books expand the theory most do not learn in graduate finance programs, or in most financial mathematics undergraduate and graduate courses.As an investment executive and authoritative instructor, Robert R. Reitano presents the mathematical theories he encountered and used in nearly three decades in the financial services industry and two decades in academia where he taught in highly respected graduate programs.Readers should be quantitatively literate and familiar with the developments in the earlier books in the set. While the set offers a continuous progression through these topics, each title can be studied independently.Features Extensively referenced to materials from earlier books Presents the theory needed to support advanced applications Supplements previous training in mathematics, with more detailed developments Built from the author's five decades of experience in industry, research, and teaching Published and forthcoming titles in the Robert R. Reitano Quantitative Finance Series:Book I: Measure Spaces and Measurable FunctionsBook II: Probability Spaces and Random VariablesBook III: The Integrals of Lebesgue and (Riemann-)StieltjesBook IV: Distribution Functions and Expectations Book V: General Measure and Integration TheoryBook VI: Densities, Transformed Distributions, and Limit Theorems Book VII: Brownian Motion and Other Stochastic ProcessesBook VIII: Itô Integration and Stochastic Calculus 1Book IX: Stochastic Calculus 2 and Stochastic Differential EquationsBook X: Classical Models and Applications in Finance

Introduction to Stochastic Level Crossing Techniques describes stochastic models and their analysis using the System Point Level Crossing method (abbreviated SPLC or LC). This involves deriving probability density functions (pdfs) or cumulative probability distribution functions (cdfs) of key random variables, applying simple level-crossing limit theorems developed by the author. The pdfs and/or cdfs are used to specify operational characteristics about the stochastic model of interest. The chapters describe distinct stochastic models and associated key random variables in the models. For each model, a figure of a typical sample path (realization, i.e., tracing over time) of the key random variable is displayed. For each model, an analytic (Volterra) integral equation for the stationary pdf of the key random variable is created−by inspection of the sample path, using the simple LC limit theorems. This LC method bypasses a great deal of algebra, usually required by other methods of analysis. The integral equations will be solved directly, or computationally. This book is meant for students of mathematics, management science, engineering, natural sciences, and researchers who use applied probability. It will also be useful to technical workers in a range of professions.Key Features: A description of one representative stochastic model (e.g., a single-server M/G/1 queue; a multiple server M/M/c queue; an inventory system; etc.) Construction of a typical sample path of the key random variable of interest (e.g., the virtual waiting time or workload in queues; the net on-hand inventory in inventory systems; etc.) Statements of the simple LC theorems, which connect the sample-path upcrossing and downcrossing rates across state-space levels, to simple mathematical functions of the stationary pdf of the key random variable, at those state-space levels Creation of (usually Volterra) integral equations for the stationary pdf of the key random variable, by inspection of the sample path Direct analytic solution of the integral equations, where feasible; or, computational solutions of the integral equations Use of the derived stationary pdfs for obtaining operational characteristics of the model

In many fields of research, such as, biology, computer science, control theory, economics, engineering, genetics, hydrology, medicine, number theory, statistics, physics, psychology, reliability, risk management, etc., the shapes of probability distributions of non-normal data exhibit J-shaped distributions. The shapes of such distributions may be skewed to the left or the right depending on whether a large percentage of data is at the lower or upper extreme. In this book, we have studied the J-shaped distributions and their applications. As a motivation, we have discussed several real-world examples which can be modeled through J-shaped distribution. We have presented the mathematical formulation of the family of J-shaped probability distributions which was first proposed by Topp and Leone (1955). We also have discussed several variations of Topp–Leone's family of J-shaped distribution. We have considered the general form of J-shaped distribution and derived its moments independently. We also have discussed other distributional properties of the J-shaped distribution. Some distributional properties of order statistics of the J-shaped distribution such as moment, variance, product moments, and covariance are also provided. To describe the shapes of the J-shaped distribution, the plots of the and for various values of the parameter have been provided. Entropy provides an excellent tool to quantify the amount of information (or uncertainty) contained in a random observation regarding its parent distribution (population). A large value of entropy implies greater uncertainty in the data. As such, Shannon entropy of the J-shaped distribution is provided. The distributional properties of order statistics of the J-shaped distribution such as moment, variance, product moments, and covariance, have also been presented. The numerical computations of these for selected values of the parameters are provided. The distributional properties of the record values of the J-shaped distribution are also investigated. Some discussions on the sum, product and ratio of the J-shaped distributions are provided. Characterizations of the J-shaped distribution are given by using the method of truncated moment, order statistics and record values.

Statistical distributions are essential tools to model the characteristics of datasets, such as right or left skewness, bi-modality or multi-modality observed in different applied sciences, such as engineering, medicine, and finance. The well-known distributions like normal, Weibull, gamma and Lindley are extensively used because of their simple forms and identifiability properties. In the last decade, researchers have focused on the more complex and flexible distributions, referred to as Generalized or simply G families of probability distributions, to increase the modelling capability of these distributions by adding one or more shape parameters.The main aim of this edited book is to present new contributions by researchers in the field of G families of probability distributions. The book will help researchers to: Develop new univariate continuous and discrete G families of probability distributions. Develop new bivariate continuous and discrete G families of probability distributions. Derive beneficial mathematical properties such as ordinary and incomplete moments, moment generating functions, residual life and reversed residual life functions, order statistics, quantile spread ordering and entropies, and some bivariate and multivariate extensions of the new and existing models using a simple-type copula.

While the Poisson distribution is a classical statistical model for count data, the distributional model hinges on the constraining property that its mean equal its variance. This text instead introduces the Conway-Maxwell-Poisson distribution and motivates its use in developing flexible statistical methods based on its distributional form. This two-parameter model not only contains the Poisson distribution as a special case but, in its ability to account for data over- or under-dispersion, encompasses both the geometric and Bernoulli distributions. The resulting statistical methods serve in a multitude of ways, from an exploratory data analysis tool, to a flexible modeling impetus for varied statistical methods involving count data. The first comprehensive reference on the subject, this text contains numerous illustrative examples demonstrating R code and output. It is essential reading for academics in statistics and data science, as well as quantitative researchers and data analysts in economics, biostatistics and other applied disciplines.

Over the last decade, spin glass theory has turned from a fascinating part of t- oretical physics to a?ourishing and rapidly growing subject of probability theory as well. These developments have been triggered to a large part by the mathem- ical understanding gained on the fascinating and previously mysterious “Parisi solution” of the Sherrington–Kirkpatrick mean?eld model of spin glasses, due to the work of Guerra, Talagrand, and others. At the same time, new aspects and applications of the methods developed there have come up. The presentvolumecollects a number of reviewsaswellas shorterarticlesby lecturers at a summer school on spin glasses that was held in July 2007 in Paris. These articles range from pedagogical introductions to state of the art papers, covering the latest developments. In their whole, they give a nice overview on the current state of the?eld from the mathematical side. The review by Bovier and Kurkova gives a concise introduction to mean?eld models, starting with the Curie–Weiss model and moving over the Random Energymodels up to the Parisisolutionof the Sherrington–Kirkpatrikmodel. Ben Arous and Kuptsov present a more recent view and disordered systems through the so-called local energy statistics. They emphasize that there are many ways to look at Hamiltonians of disordered systems that make appear the Random Energy model (or independent random variables) as a universal mechanism for describing certain rare events. An important tool in the analysis of spin glasses are correlation identities.

This textbook explores two distinct stochastic processes that evolve at random: weakly stationary processes and discrete parameter Markov processes. Building from simple examples, the authors focus on developing context and intuition before formalizing the theory of each topic. This inviting approach illuminates the key ideas and computations in the proofs, forming an ideal basis for further study. After recapping the essentials from Fourier analysis, the book begins with an introduction to the spectral representation of a stationary process. Topics in ergodic theory follow, including Birkhoff's Ergodic Theorem and an introduction to dynamical systems. From here, the Markov property is assumed and the theory of discrete parameter Markov processes is explored on a general state space. Chapters cover a variety of topics, including birth–death chains, hitting probabilities and absorption, the representation of Markov processes as iterates of random maps, and large deviation theory for Markov processes. A chapter on geometric rates of convergence to equilibrium includes a splitting condition that captures the recurrence structure of certain iterated maps in a novel way. A selection of special topics concludes the book, including applications of large deviation theory, the FKG inequalities, coupling methods, and the Kalman filter. Featuring many short chapters and a modular design, this textbook offers an in-depth study of stationary and discrete-time Markov processes. Students and instructors alike will appreciate the accessible, example-driven approach and engaging exercises throughout. A single, graduate-level course in probability is assumed.

A multitude of processes in hydrology and environmental engineering are either random or entail random components which are characterized by random variables. These variables are described by frequency distributions. This book provides an overview of different systems of frequency distributions, their properties, and applications to the fields of water resources and environmental engineering. A variety of systems are covered, including the Pearson system, Burr system, and systems commonly applied in economics, such as the D'Addario, Dagum, Stoppa, and Esteban systems. The latter chapters focus on the Singh system and the frequency distributions deduced from Bessel functions, maximum entropy theory, and the transformations of random variables. The final chapter introduces the genetic theory of frequency distributions. Using real-world data, this book provides a valuable reference for researchers, graduate students, and professionals interested in frequency analysis.

This book represents the refereed proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods in Scientific Computing, held in Ulm (Germany) in August 2006. The proceedings include carefully selected papers on many aspects of Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo methods and their applications, as well as providing information on current research in these very active areas. Besides covering theory, the book is an excellent resource work for practitioners as well.

This volume contains twenty-eight refereed research or review papers presented at the 5th Seminar on Stochastic Processes, Random Fields and Applications, which took place at the Centro Stefano Franscini (Monte Verità) in Ascona, Switzerland, from May 30 to June 3, 2005. The seminar focused mainly on stochastic partial differential equations, random dynamical systems, infinite-dimensional analysis, approximation problems, and financial engineering. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers in stochastic analysis and professionals interested in stochastic methods in finance. Contributors: Y. Asai, J.-P. Aubin, C. Becker, M. Benaïm, H. Bessaih, S. Biagini, S. Bonaccorsi, N. Bouleau, N. Champagnat, G. Da Prato, R. Ferrière, F. Flandoli, P. Guasoni, V.B. Hallulli, D. Khoshnevisan, T. Komorowski, R. Léandre, P. Lescot, H. Lisei, J.A. López-Mimbela, V. Mandrekar, S. Méléard, A. Millet, H. Nagai, A.D. Neate, V. Orlovius, M. Pratelli, N. Privault, O. Raimond, M. Röckner, B. Rüdiger, W.J. Runggaldier, P. Saint-Pierre, M. Sanz-Solé, M. Scheutzow, A. Soós, W. Stannat, A. Truman, T. Vargiolu, A.E.P. Villa, A.B. Vizcarra, F.G. Viens, J.-C. Zambrini, B. Zegarlinski

This new book is a contribution to record values and branching processes, two rich research areas of applied probability and statistics. Over the last few decades, numerous interesting articles on these topics appeared, dealing with theoretical problems as well as a number of new applications. The authors have coordinated the publishing of works by eminent researchers from all over the world. This book presents a selection of presentations of new developments and survey papers on the subjects of record values and branching processes. It is written at intermediate level which requires knowledge of probability theory and mathematical statistics.

From 1972 to 1974, I was working on a PhD thesis entitled Multiple Server Queues with Service Time Depending on Waiting Time.The method of analysis was the embedded Markov chain technique, described in the papers [82] and [77]. My analysis involved lengthy, tedious deri- tions of systems of integral equations for the probability density function (pdf) of the waiting time. After pondering for many months whether there might be a faster, easier way to derive the integral equations, I?nally discovered the basic theorems for such a method in August, 1974. The theorems establish a connection between sample-path level-crossing rates of the virtual wait process and the pdf of the waiting time. This connection was not found anywhere else in the literature at the time. I immediately developed a comprehensive new methodology for deriving the integral equations based on these theorems, and called it system point theory. (Subsequently it was called system point method,or system point level crossing method: SPLC or simply LC.) I rewrote the entire PhD thesis from November 1974 to March 1975, using LC to reach solutions. The new thesis was called System Point Theory in Exponential Queues. On June 12, 1975 I presented an invited talk on the new methodology at the Fifth Conference on Stochastic Processes and their Applications at the University of Maryland. Many queueing theorists were present.

Exponential smoothing methods have been around since the 1950s, and are still the most popular forecasting methods used in business and industry. However, a modeling framework incorporating stochastic models, likelihood calculation, prediction intervals and procedures for model selection, was not developed until recently. This book brings together all of the important new results on the state space framework for exponential smoothing. It will be of interest to people wanting to apply the methods in their own area of interest as well as for researchers wanting to take the ideas in new directions. Part 1 provides an introduction to exponential smoothing and the underlying models. The essential details are given in Part 2, which also provide links to the most important papers in the literature. More advanced topics are covered in Part 3, including the mathematical properties of the models and extensions of the models for specific problems. Applications to particular domains are discussed in Part 4.

This is an introductory book on continuous statistical distributions and its applications. It is primarily written for graduate students in engineering, undergraduate students in statistics, econometrics, and researchers in various fields. The purpose is to give a self-contained introduction to most commonly used classical continuous distributions in two parts. Important applications of each distribution in various applied fields are explored at the end of each chapter. A brief overview of the chapters is as follows. Chapter 1 discusses important concepts on continuous distributions like location-and-scale distributions, truncated, size-biased, and transmuted distributions. A theorem on finding the mean deviation of continuous distributions, and its applications are also discussed. Chapter 2 is on continuous uniform distribution, which is used in generating random numbers from other distributions. Exponential distribution is discussed in Chapter 3, and its applications briefly mentioned. Chapter 4 discusses both Beta-I and Beta-II distributions and their generalizations, as well as applications in geotechnical engineering, PERT, control charts, etc. The arcsine distribution and its variants are discussed in Chapter 5, along with arcsine transforms and Brownian motion. This is followed by gamma distribution and its applications in civil engineering, metallurgy, and reliability. Chapter 7 is on cosine distribution and its applications in signal processing, antenna design, and robotics path planning. Chapter 8 discusses the normal distribution and its variants like lognormal, and skew-normal distributions. The last chapter of Part I is on Cauchy distribution, its variants and applications in thermodynamics, interferometer design, and carbon-nanotube strain sensing. A new volume (Part II) covers inverse Gaussian, Laplace, Pareto, ����2, T, F, Weibull, Rayleigh, Maxwell, and Gumbel distributions.

This monograph is, as far as the author has gathered, the third one of its kind which presents various characterizations of many important continuous distributions. It consists of two chapters. The first chapter lists cumulative distributions and probability density functions of six hundred and sixty seven newly proposed univariate continuous distributions. Chapter Two consists of four sections. Section 2.1 provides characterizations of the majority of the distributions mentioned in Chapter One, based on the ratio of two truncated moments. Section 2.2 takes up the characterizations of some of these distributions in terms of their hazard functions. Section 2.3 deals with the characterizations some of these distributions based on their reverse hazard functions. Characterizations of some of these distributions based on the conditional expectations of certain functions of the random variable are presented in Section 2.4. As pointed out in our previous Monographs (I & II), a good number of proposed distributions in this volume have already been introduced in the literature.

Our motivation for writing this book is twofold: First, the theory of waves propagating in randomly layered media has been studied extensively during the last thirty years but the results are scattered in many di?erent papers. This theory is now in a mature state, especially in the very interesting regime of separation of scales as introduced by G. Papanicolaou and his coauthors and described in [8], which is a building block for this book. Second, we were motivatedbythe time-reversalexperimentsofM. Finkandhis groupinParis. They were done with ultrasonic waves and have attracted considerable att- tion because of the surprising e?ects of enhanced spatial focusing and time compression in random media. An exposition of this work and its appli- tions is presented in [56]. Time reversal experiments were also carried out with sonar arrays in shallow water by W. Kuperman [113] and his group in San Diego. The enhanced spatial focusing and time compression of signals in time reversal in randommedia have many diverse applications in detection and in focused energy delivery on small targets as, for example, in the - struction of kidney stones. Enhanced spatial focusing is also useful in sonar and wireless communications for reducing interference. Time reversal ideas have played an important role in the development of new methods for array imaging in random media as presented in [19].

A multitude of processes in hydrology and environmental engineering are either random or entail random components which are characterized by random variables. These variables are described by frequency distributions. This book provides an overview of different systems of frequency distributions, their properties, and applications to the fields of water resources and environmental engineering. A variety of systems are covered, including the Pearson system, Burr system, and systems commonly applied in economics, such as the D'Addario, Dagum, Stoppa, and Esteban systems. The latter chapters focus on the Singh system and the frequency distributions deduced from Bessel functions, maximum entropy theory, and the transformations of random variables. The final chapter introduces the genetic theory of frequency distributions. Using real-world data, this book provides a valuable reference for researchers, graduate students, and professionals interested in frequency analysis.

The book entitled “The Theory of Samples Surveys and Statistical Decisions” is useful to all the P.G. and Ph.D. students and faculty members of statistics, agricultural statistics and engineering, social; science and biological sciences. It is also useful to those students who have to appear in competitive examinations with statistic as a subject in the state P.S.C's, U.P.S.C., A.S.R.B and I.S.S etc. this book is the outcome of 25 years of teaching experience to U.G., P.G. and Ph.D. students

Distribution Models Theory is a revised edition of papers specially selected by the Scientific Committee for the Fifth Workshop of Spanish Scientific Association of Applied Economy on Distribution Models Theory held in Granada (Spain) in September 2005. The contributions offer a must-have point of reference on models theory.This book has been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings® (ISTP®/ISI Proceedings)• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version/ISI Proceedings)

'This book represents the refereed proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods in Scientific Computing and of the Second International Conference on Monte Carlo and Probabilistic Methods for Partial Differential Equations. These conferences were held jointly at Juan-les-Pins (France) in June 2004. The proceedings include carefully selected papers on many aspects of Monte Carlo methods, quasi-Monte Carlo methods, and the numerical solution of partial differential equations. The reader will be informed about current research in these very active areas.'--Publisher description

This textbook provides an introduction to convex duality for optimization problems in Banach spaces, integration theory, and their application to stochastic programming problems in a static or dynamic setting. It introduces and analyses the main algorithms for stochastic programs, while the theoretical aspects are carefully dealt with. The reader is shown how these tools can be applied to various fields, including approximation theory, semidefinite and second-order cone programming and linear decision rules. This textbook is recommended for students, engineers and researchers who are willing to take a rigorous approach to the mathematics involved in the application of duality theory to optimization with uncertainty.

The study of heavy-tailed distributions allows researchers to represent phenomena that occasionally exhibit very large deviations from the mean. The dynamics underlying these phenomena is an interesting theoretical subject, but the study of their statistical properties is in itself a very useful endeavor from the point of view of managing assets and controlling risk. In this book, the authors are primarily concerned with the statistical properties of heavy-tailed distributions and with the processes that exhibit jumps. A detailed overview with a Matlab implementation of heavy-tailed models applied in asset management and risk managements is presented. The book is not intended as a theoretical treatise on probability or statistics, but as a tool to understand the main concepts regarding heavy-tailed random variables and processes as applied to real-world applications in finance. Accordingly, the authors review approaches and methodologies whose realization will be useful for developing new methods for forecasting of financial variables where extreme events are not treated as anomalies, but as intrinsic parts of the economic process.

The author studies continuous processes indexed by a special family of graphs. Processes indexed by vertices of graphs are known as probabilistic graphical models. In 2011, Burdzy and Pal proposed a continuous version of graphical models indexed by graphs with an embedded time structure— so-called time-like graphs. The author extends the notion of time-like graphs and finds properties of processes indexed by them. In particular, the author solves the conjecture of uniqueness of the distribution for the process indexed by graphs with infinite number of vertices. The author provides a new result showing the stochastic heat equation as a limit of the sequence of natural Brownian motions on time-like graphs. In addition, the author's treatment of time-like graphical models reveals connections to Markov random fields, martingales indexed by directed sets and branching Markov processes.

This open access book focuses on both the theory and practice associated with the tools and approaches for decisionmaking in the face of deep uncertainty. It explores approaches and tools supporting the design of strategic plans under deep uncertainty, and their testing in the real world, including barriers and enablers for their use in practice. The book broadens traditional approaches and tools to include the analysis of actors and networks related to the problem at hand. It also shows how lessons learned in the application process can be used to improve the approaches and tools used in the design process. The book offers guidance in identifying and applying appropriate approaches and tools to design plans, as well as advice on implementing these plans in the real world. For decisionmakers and practitioners, the book includes realistic examples and practical guidelines that should help them understand what decisionmaking under deep uncertainty is and how it may be of assistance to them. Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty: From Theory to Practice is divided into four parts. Part I presents five approaches for designing strategic plans under deep uncertainty: Robust Decision Making, Dynamic Adaptive Planning, Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways, Info-Gap Decision Theory, and Engineering Options Analysis. Each approach is worked out in terms of its theoretical foundations, methodological steps to follow when using the approach, latest methodological insights, and challenges for improvement. In Part II, applications of each of these approaches are presented. Based on recent case studies, the practical implications of applying each approach are discussed in depth. Part III focuses on using the approaches and tools in real-world contexts, based on insights from real-world cases. Part IV contains conclusions and a synthesis of the lessons that can be drawn for designing, applying, and implementing strategic plans under deep uncertainty, as well as recommendations for future work.The publication of this book has been funded by the Radboud University, the RAND Corporation, Delft University of Technology, and Deltares.

This book presents four survey articles on various aspects of open quantum systems, specifically addressing quantum Markovian processes, Feller semigroups and nonequilibrium dynamics. The contributions are based on lectures given by distinguished experts at a summer school in Göttingen, Germany. Starting from basic notions, the authors of these lecture notes accompany the reader on a journey up to the latest research, highlighting new challenges and addressing unsolved problems at the interface between mathematics and physics. Though the book is primarily addressed to graduate students, it will also be of interest to researchers.

Exponential distribution is one of the most-used distributions in the theory and practice of statistics. It has several important properties like being memoryless and having a constant hazard rate. The field of characterization is developed in different branches of statistics and applied probability. Ordered random variables are common in various applications in practice. In this book, characterizations of exponential distribution using ordered random variables are presented. Most of the known results as well as many new results are given in this book. The aim of the book is to present various characterizations of exponential distribution based on ordered random variables. The book is written on a lower technical level and requires basic knowledge of mathematics and statistics. Chapter 1 gives some basic properties of exponential distribution. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 give the characterization of exponential distribution based on order statistics, record values, and generalized order statistics.

Mixture analysis is very active research topic in statistics and machine learning. It is a good timing for a Handbook to present a broad overview of the methods and applications, suitable for graduate students and young researchers new to the field. This Handbook is divided into two main parts; the first part covers all the methods, with illustrative examples and guidance on computing where appropriate; and the second part includes some more advanced methodological topics, and a series of case studies presenting applications of mixture analysis in a number of fields, including genomics, medicine, economics, finance and more.

This book introduces readers to the financial markets, derivatives, structured products and how the products are modelled and implemented by practitioners. In addition, it equips readers with the necessary knowledge of financial markets needed in order to work as product structurers, traders, sales or risk managers. As the book seeks to unify the derivatives modelling and the financial engineering practice in the market, it will be of interest to financial practitioners and academic researchers alike. Further, it takes a different route from the existing financial mathematics books, and will appeal to students and practitioners with or without a scientific background. The book can also be used as a textbook for the following courses: • Financial Mathematics (undergraduate level) • Stochastic Modelling in Finance (postgraduate level) • Financial Markets and Derivatives (undergraduate level) • Structured Products and Solutions (undergraduate/postgraduate level)

Peter Kall and János Mayer are distinguished scholars and professors of Operations Research and their research interest is particularly devoted to the area of stochastic optimization. Stochastic Linear Programming: Models, Theory, and Computation is a definitive presentation and discussion of the theoretical properties of the models, the conceptual algorithmic approaches, and the computational issues relating to the implementation of these methods to solve problems that are stochastic in nature. The application area of stochastic programming includes portfolio analysis, financial optimization, energy problems, random yields in manufacturing, risk analysis, etc. In this book, models in financial optimization and risk analysis are discussed as examples, including solution methods and their implementation. Stochastic programming is a fast developing area of optimization and mathematical programming. Numerous papers and conference volumes, and several monographs have been published in the area; however, the Kall and Mayer book will be particularly useful in presenting solution methods including their solid theoretical basis and their computational issues, based in many cases on implementations by the authors. The book is also suitable for advanced courses in stochastic optimization.

This book investigates the distributions of functionals defined on the sample paths of stochastic processes. It contains systematic exposition and applications of three general research methods developed by the authors. (i) The method of stratifications is used to study the problem of absolute continuity of distribution for different classes of functionals under very mild smoothness assumptions. It can be used also for evaluation of the distribution density of the functional. (ii) The method of differential operators is based on the abstract formalism of differential calculus and proves to be a powerful tool for the investigation of the smoothness properties of the distributions. (iii) The superstructure method, which is a later modification of the method of stratifications, is used to derive strong limit theorems (in the variation metric) for the distributions of stochastic functionals under weak convergence of the processes. Various application examples concern the functionals of Gaussian, Poisson and diffusion processes as well as partial sum processes from the Donsker-Prokhorov scheme. The research methods and basic results in this book are presented here in monograph form for the first time. The text would be suitable for a graduate course in the theory of stochastic processes and related topics.