Alejandro Maass, Servet Martinez, Jaime San Martin

Dynamics and Randomness II

April 2004, ISBN 1-4020-1990-4, Hardbound

Book Series: NONLINEAR PHENOMENA AND COMPLEX SYSTEMS : Volume 10

This book contains the lectures given at the Second Conference on Dynamics and Randomness held at the Centro de Modelamiento Matematico of the Universidad de Chile, from December 9-13, 2003. This meeting brought together mathematicians, theoretical physicists, theoretical computer scientists, and graduate students interested in fields related to probability theory, ergodic theory, symbolic and topological dynamics. The courses were on:

Some Aspects of Random Fragmentations in Continuous Times;
Metastability of Ageing in Stochastic Dynamics;
Algebraic Systems of Generating Functions and Return Probabilities for Random Walks;
Recurrent Measures and Measure Rigidity;
Stochastic Particle Approximations for Two-Dimensional Navier Stokes Equations; and
Random and Universal Metric Spaces.
The intended audience for this book is Ph.D. students on Probability and Ergodic Theory as well as researchers in these areas. The particular interest of this book is the broad areas of problems that it covers. We have chosen six main topics and asked six experts to give an introductory course on the subject touching the latest advances on each problem.

V.B. Alekseev

Abel's Theorem in Problems and Solutions
Based on the lectures of Professor V.I.Arnold

May 2004, ISBN 1-4020-2186-0, Hardbound

Do formulas exist for the solution to algebraical equations in one variable of any degree like the formulas for quadratic equations? The main aim of this book is to give new geometrical proof of Abel's theorem, as proposed by Professor V.I. Arnold. The theorem states that for general algebraical equations of a degree higher than 4, there are no formulas representing roots of these equations in terms of coefficients with only arithmetic operations and radicals.

A secondary, and more important aim of this book, is to acquaint the reader with two very important branches of modern mathematics: group theory and theory of functions of a complex variable.

This book also has the added bonus of an extensive appendix devoted to the differential Galois theory, written by Professor A.G. Khovanskii.

As this text has been written assuming no specialist prior knowledge and is composed of definitions, examples, problems and solutions, it is suitable for self-study or teaching students of mathematics, from high school to graduate.

Contents

Preface for the English edition; V.I. Arnold. Preface. Introduction.
1: Groups. 1.1. Examples. 1.2. Groups of transformations. 1.3. Groups. 1.4. Cyclic groups. 1.5. Isomorphisms. 1.6. Subgroups. 1.7. Direct product. 1.8. Cosets. Lagrange's theory. 1.9. Internal automorphisms. 1.10. Normal subgroups. 1.11. Quotient groups. 1.12. Commutant. 1.13. Homomorphisms. 1.14. Soluble groups. 1.15. Permutations.
2: The complex numbers. 2.1. Fields and polynomials. 2.2. The field of complex numbers. 2.3. Uniqueness of the field of complex numbers. 2.4. Geometrical descriptions of the field of complex numbers. 2.5. The trigonometric form of the complex numbers. 2.6. Continuity. 2.7. Continuous curves. 2.8. Images of curves: the basic theorem of the algebra of complex numbers. 2.9. The Riemann surface of the function w = ăz. 2.10. The Riemann surfaces of more complicated functions. 2.11. Functions representable by radicals. 2.12. Monodromy groups of multi-valued functions. 2.13. Monodromy groups of functions representable by radicals. 2.14. The Abel theorem.
3: Hints, Solutions and Answers. 3.1.Problems of Chapter 1. 3.2. Problems of Chapter 2. Drawings of Riemann surfaces; F. Aicardi.
Appendix. Solvability of equations by explicit formulae; A. Khovanskii. A.1. Explicit solvability of equations. A.2. Liouville's theory. A.3. Picard-Vessiot's theory. A.4. Topological obstructions for the representation of functions by quadratures. A.5. -functions. A.6. Monodromy group. A.7. Obstructions for the representability of functions by quadratures. A.8. Solvability of algebraic equations. A.9. The monodromy pair. A.10. Mapping of the semi-plane to a polygon bounded by arcs of circles. A.11. Topological obstructions for the solvability of differential equations. A.12. Algebraic functions of several variables. A.13. Functions of several complex variables representable by quadratures and generalized quadratures. A.14. -germs. A.15. Topological obstruction for the solvability of the holonomic systems of linear differential equations. A.16. Topological obstruction for the solvability of the holonomic systems of linear differential equations. Bibliography.
Appendix; V.I. Arnold.
Index.

Ramaprasad Bhar, Shigeyuki Hamori

Hidden Markov Models
Applications to Financial Economics

May 2004, ISBN 1-4020-7899-4, Hardbound

Markov chains have increasingly become useful way of capturing stochastic nature of many economic and financial variables. Although the hidden Markov processes have been widely employed for some time in many engineering applications e.g. speech recognition, its effectiveness has now been recognized in areas of social science research as well. The main aim of Hidden Markov Models: Applications to Financial Economics is to make such techniques available to more researchers in financial economics. As such we only cover the necessary theoretical aspects in each chapter while focusing on real life applications using contemporary data mainly from OECD group of countries. The underlying assumption here is that the researchers in financial economics would be familiar with such application although empirical techniques would be more traditional econometrics. Keeping the application level in a more familiar level, we focus on the methodology based on hidden Markov processes. This will, we believe, help the reader to develop more in-depth understanding of the modeling issues thereby benefiting their future research.

Contents

List of Figures. List of Tables.
Dedication. Acknowledgements.
1: Introduction. 1. Introduction. 2. Markov Chains. 3. Passage Time. 4. Markov Chains and the Term Structure of Interest Rates. 5. State Space Methods and Kalman Filter. 6. Hidden Markov Models and Hidden Markov Experts. 7. HMM Estimation Algorithm. 8. HMM Parameter Estimation. 9. HMM Most Probable State Sequence: Viterbi Algorithm. 10. HMM Illustrative examples.
2: Volatility in Growth Rate of Real GDP. 1. Introduction. 2. Models. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
3: Linkages among G7 Stock Markets. 1. Introduction. 2. Empirical Technique. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
4: Interplay between Industrial Production and Stock Market. 1. Introduction. 2. Markov Switching Heteroscedasticity Model of Output and Equity. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
5: Linking Inflation and Inflation Uncertainty. 1. Introduction. 2. Empirical Technique. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
6: Exploring Permanent and Transitory Components of Stock Return. 1. Introduction. 2. Markov Switching Heteroscedasticity Model of Stock Return. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
7: Exploring the Relationship between Coincident Financial Market Indicators. 1. Introduction. 2. Markov Switching Coincidence Index Model. 3. Data. 4. Empirical Results. 5. Conclusion.
References. Index.

Eugenia V. Buzaneva, Peter Scharff

Frontiers of Multifunctional Integrated Nanosystems

July 2004, ISBN 1-4020-2172-0, Paperback
July 2004, ISBN 1-4020-2171-2, Hardbound

Book Series: NATO SCIENCE SERIES: II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry : Volume 152

A compendium of novel information on molecular-scale science and the application of nanocarbon, nanosilicon and biopolymer integrated nanosystems.

During the 20th century, molecular-scale science and nanotechnology developed rapidly, leading to the construction of innovative materials - nanosystens from molecules (fullerenes), supramolecules (nanotubes, peapods, polymers, biopolymers (DNA, protein and their complexes) and semiconductor nanoparticles (nano-Si, SiOx, Si/SiGe dots, metal nanowires). This book presents exciting new developments of the early 21st century. Significant progress has been made in nanotechnology of building blocks for integrated nanosystems, single and assembled molecules, nanoparticles characterisation, and multifunctional applications of nanosystems.

The realisation and the application of novel multifunctional nanosystems in electronics, optics, biomedicine (nano-bioelectronic devices based on DNA and proteins, silicon nanocrystal memory devices, monolithically integrated silicon photonics, nanocapsules, biosensor nanosystems) are described by well known experts.

This multi-disciplinary, scientific display of cutting-edge research across the entire spectrum of nanoscience and nanotechnology of inorganic, and organic systems, as well as systems for electronics photonics, and spintronics demonstrates that researching nanocarbon, nanosilicon, biomolecular integrated nanosystems, and developing their new applications, is a complex and exiting topic that will continue to attract scientists and engineers for many years to come.