Random Fields on the Sphere


Book Description

The authors present a comprehensive analysis of isotropic spherical random fields, with a view towards applications in cosmology. Any mathematician or statistician interested in these applications, especially the booming area of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data analysis, will find the mathematical foundation they need in this book.




Random Fields and Geometry


Book Description

This monograph is devoted to a completely new approach to geometric problems arising in the study of random fields. The groundbreaking material in Part III, for which the background is carefully prepared in Parts I and II, is of both theoretical and practical importance, and striking in the way in which problems arising in geometry and probability are beautifully intertwined. "Random Fields and Geometry" will be useful for probabilists and statisticians, and for theoretical and applied mathematicians who wish to learn about new relationships between geometry and probability. It will be helpful for graduate students in a classroom setting, or for self-study. Finally, this text will serve as a basic reference for all those interested in the companion volume of the applications of the theory.




Gaussian Markov Random Fields


Book Description

Gaussian Markov Random Field (GMRF) models are most widely used in spatial statistics - a very active area of research in which few up-to-date reference works are available. This is the first book on the subject that provides a unified framework of GMRFs with particular emphasis on the computational aspects. This book includes extensive case-studie




Markov Random Fields


Book Description

In this book we study Markov random functions of several variables. What is traditionally meant by the Markov property for a random process (a random function of one time variable) is connected to the concept of the phase state of the process and refers to the independence of the behavior of the process in the future from its behavior in the past, given knowledge of its state at the present moment. Extension to a generalized random process immediately raises nontrivial questions about the definition of a suitable" phase state," so that given the state, future behavior does not depend on past behavior. Attempts to translate the Markov property to random functions of multi-dimensional "time," where the role of "past" and "future" are taken by arbitrary complementary regions in an appro priate multi-dimensional time domain have, until comparatively recently, been carried out only in the framework of isolated examples. How the Markov property should be formulated for generalized random functions of several variables is the principal question in this book. We think that it has been substantially answered by recent results establishing the Markov property for a whole collection of different classes of random functions. These results are interesting for their applications as well as for the theory. In establishing them, we found it useful to introduce a general probability model which we have called a random field. In this book we investigate random fields on continuous time domains. Contents CHAPTER 1 General Facts About Probability Distributions §1.




Random Fields for Spatial Data Modeling


Book Description

This book provides an inter-disciplinary introduction to the theory of random fields and its applications. Spatial models and spatial data analysis are integral parts of many scientific and engineering disciplines. Random fields provide a general theoretical framework for the development of spatial models and their applications in data analysis. The contents of the book include topics from classical statistics and random field theory (regression models, Gaussian random fields, stationarity, correlation functions) spatial statistics (variogram estimation, model inference, kriging-based prediction) and statistical physics (fractals, Ising model, simulated annealing, maximum entropy, functional integral representations, perturbation and variational methods). The book also explores links between random fields, Gaussian processes and neural networks used in machine learning. Connections with applied mathematics are highlighted by means of models based on stochastic partial differential equations. An interlude on autoregressive time series provides useful lower-dimensional analogies and a connection with the classical linear harmonic oscillator. Other chapters focus on non-Gaussian random fields and stochastic simulation methods. The book also presents results based on the author’s research on Spartan random fields that were inspired by statistical field theories originating in physics. The equivalence of the one-dimensional Spartan random field model with the classical, linear, damped harmonic oscillator driven by white noise is highlighted. Ideas with potentially significant computational gains for the processing of big spatial data are presented and discussed. The final chapter concludes with a description of the Karhunen-Loève expansion of the Spartan model. The book will appeal to engineers, physicists, and geoscientists whose research involves spatial models or spatial data analysis. Anyone with background in probability and statistics can read at least parts of the book. Some chapters will be easier to understand by readers familiar with differential equations and Fourier transforms.




Random Fields and Stochastic Lagrangian Models


Book Description

The book presents advanced stochastic models and simulation methods for random flows and transport of particles by turbulent velocity fields and flows in porous media. Two main classes of models are constructed: (1) turbulent flows are modeled as synthetic random fields which have certain statistics and features mimicing those of turbulent fluid in the regime of interest, and (2) the models are constructed in the form of stochastic differential equations for stochastic Lagrangian trajectories of particles carried by turbulent flows. The book is written for mathematicians, physicists, and engineers studying processes associated with probabilistic interpretation, researchers in applied and computational mathematics, in environmental and engineering sciences dealing with turbulent transport and flows in porous media, as well as nucleation, coagulation, and chemical reaction analysis under fluctuation conditions. It can be of interest for students and post-graduates studying numerical methods for solving stochastic boundary value problems of mathematical physics and dispersion of particles by turbulent flows and flows in porous media.




Simulation of Stochastic Processes with Given Accuracy and Reliability


Book Description

Simulation has now become an integral part of research and development across many fields of study. Despite the large amounts of literature in the field of simulation and modeling, one recurring problem is the issue of accuracy and confidence level of constructed models. By outlining the new approaches and modern methods of simulation of stochastic processes, this book provides methods and tools in measuring accuracy and reliability in functional spaces. The authors explore analysis of the theory of Sub-Gaussian (including Gaussian one) and Square Gaussian random variables and processes and Cox processes. Methods of simulation of stochastic processes and fields with given accuracy and reliability in some Banach spaces are also considered. - Provides an analysis of the theory of Sub-Gaussian (including Gaussian one) and Square Gaussian random variables and processes - Contains information on the study of the issue of accuracy and confidence level of constructed models not found in other books on the topic - Provides methods and tools in measuring accuracy and reliability in functional spaces




Advanced Spatial Modeling with Stochastic Partial Differential Equations Using R and INLA


Book Description

Modeling spatial and spatio-temporal continuous processes is an important and challenging problem in spatial statistics. Advanced Spatial Modeling with Stochastic Partial Differential Equations Using R and INLA describes in detail the stochastic partial differential equations (SPDE) approach for modeling continuous spatial processes with a Matérn covariance, which has been implemented using the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) in the R-INLA package. Key concepts about modeling spatial processes and the SPDE approach are explained with examples using simulated data and real applications. This book has been authored by leading experts in spatial statistics, including the main developers of the INLA and SPDE methodologies and the R-INLA package. It also includes a wide range of applications: * Spatial and spatio-temporal models for continuous outcomes * Analysis of spatial and spatio-temporal point patterns * Coregionalization spatial and spatio-temporal models * Measurement error spatial models * Modeling preferential sampling * Spatial and spatio-temporal models with physical barriers * Survival analysis with spatial effects * Dynamic space-time regression * Spatial and spatio-temporal models for extremes * Hurdle models with spatial effects * Penalized Complexity priors for spatial models All the examples in the book are fully reproducible. Further information about this book, as well as the R code and datasets used, is available from the book website at http://www.r-inla.org/spde-book. The tools described in this book will be useful to researchers in many fields such as biostatistics, spatial statistics, environmental sciences, epidemiology, ecology and others. Graduate and Ph.D. students will also find this book and associated files a valuable resource to learn INLA and the SPDE approach for spatial modeling.




Pattern Theory


Book Description

Pattern Theory provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the modern challenges in signal, data, and pattern analysis in speech recognition, computational linguistics, image analysis and computer vision. Aimed at graduate students in biomedical engineering, mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering with a good background in mathematics and probability, the text includes numerous exercises and an extensive bibliography. Additional resources including extended proofs, selected solutions and examples are available on a companion website. The book commences with a short overview of pattern theory and the basics of statistics and estimation theory. Chapters 3-6 discuss the role of representation of patterns via condition structure. Chapters 7 and 8 examine the second central component of pattern theory: groups of geometric transformation applied to the representation of geometric objects. Chapter 9 moves into probabilistic structures in the continuum, studying random processes and random fields indexed over subsets of Rn. Chapters 10 and 11 continue with transformations and patterns indexed over the continuum. Chapters 12-14 extend from the pure representations of shapes to the Bayes estimation of shapes and their parametric representation. Chapters 15 and 16 study the estimation of infinite dimensional shape in the newly emergent field of Computational Anatomy. Finally, Chapters 17 and 18 look at inference, exploring random sampling approaches for estimation of model order and parametric representing of shapes.




Stable Non-Gaussian Random Processes


Book Description

This book serves as a standard reference, making this area accessible not only to researchers in probability and statistics, but also to graduate students and practitioners. The book assumes only a first-year graduate course in probability. Each chapter begins with a brief overview and concludes with a wide range of exercises at varying levels of difficulty. The authors supply detailed hints for the more challenging problems, and cover many advances made in recent years.