Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387878343 ISBN 13: 9780387878348

Publisher: Springer, 2009

Classical probability theory provides information about random walks after a fixed number of steps. For applications, however, it is more natural to consider random walks evaluated after a random number of steps. Examples are sequential analysis, queuing theory, storage and inventory theory, insurance risk theory, reliability theory, and the theory of contours. Stopped Random Walks: Limit Theorems and Applications shows how this theory can be used to prove limit theorems for renewal counting processes, first passage time processes, and certain two-dimenstional random walks, and to how these results are useful in various applications.

This second edition offers updated content and an outlook on further results, extensions and generalizations. A new chapter examines nonlinear renewal processes in order to present the analagous theory for perturbed random walks, modeled as a random walk plus "noise."

From the Back Cover:

Classical probability theory provides information about random walks after a fixed number of steps. For applications, however, it is more natural to consider random walks evaluated after a random number of steps. Stopped Random Walks: Limit Theorems and Applications shows how this theory can be used to prove limit theorems for renewal counting processes, first passage time processes, and certain two-dimensional random walks, as well as how these results may be used in a variety of applications.

The present second edition offers updated content and an outlook on further results, extensions and generalizations. A new chapter introduces nonlinear renewal processes and the theory of perturbed random walks, which are modeled as random walks plus "noise".

This self-contained research monograph is motivated by numerous examples and problems. With its concise blend of material and over 300 bibliographic references, the book provides a unified and fairly complete treatment of the area. The book may be used in the classroom as part of a course on "probability theory", "random walks" or "random walks and renewal processes", as well as for self-study.

From the reviews:

"The book provides a nice synthesis of a lot of useful material."

--American Mathematical Society

"...[a] clearly written book, useful for researcher and student."

--Zentralblatt MATH

About the Author:

Dr. Allan Gut is a professor of mathematical statistics at Uppsala University in Sweden. He has published many numerous articles, and has authored and co-authored six books, four of which were published by Springer. Three of those books, including the first edition of this book, have sold out, and Probability: A Graduate Course, published in 2005, is selling well.