Structural Aspects in the Theory of Probability

The book is conceived as a text accompanying the traditional graduate courses on probability theory. An important feature of this enlarged version is the emphasis on algebraic-topological aspects leading to a wider and deeper understanding of basic theorems such as those on the structure of continuous convolution semigroups and the corresponding processes with independent increments. Fourier transformation OCo the method applied within the settings of Banach spaces, locally compact Abelian groups and commutative hypergroups OCo is given an in-depth discussion. This powerful analytic tool along with the relevant facts of harmonic analysis make it possible to study certain properties of stochastic processes in dependence of the algebraic-topological structure of their state spaces. In extension of the first edition, the new edition contains chapters on the probability theory of generalized convolution structures such as polynomial and Sturm-Liouville hypergroups, and on the central limit problem for groups such as tori, p-adic groups and solenoids. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Probability Measures on Metric Spaces (318 KB). Contents: Probability Measures on Metric Spaces; The Fourier Transform in a Banach Space; The Structure of Infinitely Divisible Probability Measures; Harmonic Analysis of Convolution Semigroups; Negative Definite Functions and Convolution Semigroups; Probabilistic Properties of Convolution Semigroups; Hypergroups in Probability Theory; Limit Theorems on Locally Compact Abelian Groups. Readership: Graduate students, lecturers and researchers in probability and statistics."