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The Poisson process, a core object in modern probability, enjoys a richer theory than is sometimes appreciated. This volume develops the theory in the setting of a general abstract measure space, establishing basic results and properties as well as certain advanced topics in the stochastic analysis of the Poisson process. Also discussed are applications and related topics in stochastic geometry, including stationary point processes, the Boolean model, the Gilbert graph, stable allocations, and hyperplane processes. Comprehensive, rigorous, and self-contained, this text is ideal for graduate courses or for self-study, with a substantial number of exercises for each chapter. Mathematical prerequisites, mainly a sound knowledge of measure-theoretic probability, are kept in the background, but are reviewed comprehensively in the appendix. The authors are well-known researchers in probability theory; especially stochastic geometry. Their approach is informed both by their research and by their extensive experience in teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels.
List of contents
Preface; List of symbols; 1. Poisson and other discrete distributions; 2. Point processes; 3. Poisson processes; 4. The Mecke equation and factorial measures; 5. Mappings, markings and thinnings; 6. Characterisations of the Poisson process; 7. Poisson processes on the real line; 8. Stationary point processes; 9. The Palm distribution; 10. Extra heads and balanced allocations; 11. Stable allocations; 12. Poisson integrals; 13. Random measures and Cox processes; 14. Permanental processes; 15. Compound Poisson processes; 16. The Boolean model and the Gilbert graph; 17. The Boolean model with general grains; 18. Fock space and chaos expansion; 19. Perturbation analysis; 20. Covariance identities; 21. Normal approximation; 22. Normal approximation in the Boolean model; Appendix A. Some measure theory; Appendix B. Some probability theory; Appendix C. Historical notes; References; Index.
About the author
Günter Last is Professor of Stochastics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. He is a distinguished probabilist with particular expertise in stochastic geometry, point processes, and random measures. He coauthored a research monograph on marked point processes on the line as well as two textbooks on general mathematics. He has given many invited talks on his research worldwide.
Summary
This self-contained introduction to the Poisson process covers basic theory and certain advanced topics in the setting of a general abstract measure space. The text includes applications and numerous exercises, and is ideal for graduate courses or self-study by mathematicians, physicists, and engineers.
Report
'An understanding of the remarkable properties of the Poisson process is essential for anyone interested in the mathematical theory of probability or in its many fields of application. This book is a lucid and thorough account, rigorous but not pedantic, and accessible to any reader familiar with modern mathematics at first degree level. Its publication is most welcome.' J. F. C. Kingman, University of Bristol
