Publisher Description

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book provides a unified presentation of first-passage processes, which highlights its interrelations with electrostatics and the resulting powerful consequences. The author begins with a presentation of fundamental theory including the connection between the occupation and first-passage probabilities of a random walk, and the connection to electrostatics and current flows in resistor networks. The consequences of this theory are then developed for simple, illustrative geometries including the finite and semi-infinite intervals, fractal networks, spherical geometries and the wedge. Various applications are presented including neuron dynamics, self-organized criticality, diffusion-limited aggregation, the dynamics of spin systems and the kinetics of diffusion-controlled reactions. First-passage processes provide an appealing way for graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance to understand all of these systems.

Notes

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-controlled reactions, diffusion-limited growth, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. This book is about the basic theory and consequences of first-passage processes. This is outlined from a physics perspective which emphasizes intuition, problem solving, and the application of first-passage processes in fields as diverse as random walks and resistor networks, neuron dynamics and self-organized criticality. This variety of applications will appeal to graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance.

Author Biography

Sid Redner is a condensed-matter theorist whose research focuses on non-equilibrium statistical physics and its applications. Dr Redner has been on the physics faculty at Boston University since 1978 and has been a full professor since 1989. He has published 230 research articles and is the author of A Kinetic View of Statistical Physics with P. L. Krapivsky and E. Ben-Naim (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Dr Redner is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was a visiting scientist at Schlumberger Research in 1984-1985, the Ulam Scholar at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2004-2005 and a visiting professor at the Universite Paul Sabatier (Toulouse) and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris) in 2008.

Table of Contents

Preface; Errata; 1. First-passage fundamentals; 2. First passage in an interval; 3. Semi-infinite system; 4. Illustrations of first passage in simple geometries; 5. Fractal and nonfractal networks; 6. Systems with spherical symmetry; 7. Wedge domains; 8. Applications to simple reactions; References; Index.

Review

'... this is unquestionably a valuable book, written at an accessible level for graduate students while providing a nice summary of the last century's - and notably the last two decades' - developments of these methods. I do not doubt that this will be a popular book; it fills a hole in the textbook/monograph literature that's needed filling for at least ten years. Moreover, the author's style is relaxed and crystal clear while maintaining mathematical precision and power.' Charles Doering, University of Michigan '... to practitioners in the field of first-passage problems and to students entering the field ... I can recommend it strongly ... It is clearly written and the organisation and presentation of the material are excellent. It serves as a useful repository of standard and not-so-standard techniques which anyone working in the area of stochastic processes in general, and first-passage problems in particular, will want to have on their shelves.' Alan J. Bray, The Journal of Statistical Physics 'I found the author's style accessible and interesting.' Contemporary Physics

Review Quote

'I found the author's style accessible and interesting.' Comtemporary Physics

Promotional "Headline"

The basic theory presented in a way which emphasizes intuition, problem-solving and the connections with other fields.

Description for Bookstore

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-controlled reactions, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. The basic theory is outlined from a physics perspective which emphasizes the connections with other fields. The wide variety of applications will appeal to graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance.

Description for Library

First-passage properties underlie a wide range of stochastic processes, such as diffusion-controlled reactions, neuron firing and the triggering of stock options. The basic theory is outlined from a physics perspective which emphasizes the connections with other fields. The wide variety of applications will appeal to graduate students and researchers in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, operations research and finance.

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