Kiyosi Itô's greatest contribution to probability theory may be his
introduction of stochastic differential equations to explain the
Kolmogorov-Feller theory of Markov processes. Starting with the
geometric ideas that guided him, this book gives an account of Itô's
program. The modern theory of Markov processes was initiated by A. N.
Kolmogorov. However, Kolmogorov's approach was too analytic to reveal
the probabilistic foundations on which it rests. In particular, it
hides the central role played by the simplest Markov processes: those
with independent, identically distributed increments. To remedy this
defect, Itô interpreted Kolmogorov's famous forward equation as an
equation that describes the integral curve of a vector field on the
space of probability measures. Thus, in order to show how Itô's
thinking leads to his theory of stochastic integral equations, Stroock
begins with an account of integral curves on the space of probability
measures and then arrives at stochastic integral equations when he
moves to a pathspace setting. In the first half of the book,
everything is done in the context of general independent increment
processes and without explicit use of Itô's stochastic integral
calculus. In the second half, the author provides a systematic
development of Itô's theory of stochastic integration: first for
Brownian motion and then for continuous martingales. The final chapter
presents Stratonovich's variation on Itô's theme and ends with an
application to the characterization of the paths on which a diffusion
is supported. The book should be accessible to readers who have
mastered the essentials of modern probability theory and should
provide such readers with a reasonably thorough introduction to
continuous-time, stochastic processes.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400835577
Publisert
2014
Utgiver
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Antall sider
288
Forfatter