Synopses & Reviews
This graduate-level textbook provides a straight-forward and mathematically rigorous introduction to the standard theory of point processes. The author's aim is to present an account which concentrates on the essentials and which places an emphasis on conveying an intuitive understanding of the subject. As a result, it provides a clear presentation of how statistical ideas can be viewed from this perspective and particular topics covered include the theory of extreme values and sampling from finite populations. Prerequisites are that the reader has a basic grounding in the mathematical theory of probability and statistics, but otherwise the book is self-contained. It arises from courses given by the author over a number of years and includes numerous exercises ranging from simple computations to more challenging explorations of ideas from the text.
Synopsis
Chapters 1 and 2 of this book originated from a manuscript that was dis- tributed shortly before aseminar. Each of the participants had acquired a solid background in probability theory and statistics, yet the knowledge of point or counting processes was partly restricted to the homogeneous Poisson counting process buHt by partial sums of exponential random vari- ables. These preparations turned out to be successful and, consequently, there was time left during the seminar to study some of the topics outlined in Chapters 3-9. This story reveals the main intention of writing this book, namely, to facilitate first steps into the field of point processes. To avoid misunderstanding, this book is not written in an informal style but in strictly mathematical terms. The book provides extensive explana- tions and detailed proofs (including the discussion of measurability prob- lems, etc.) which will be helpful to gain insight on the subject. Although this book is of an introductionary nature it includes much new material and presents an elaboration of various topics in a way that cannot be found elsewhere. A broader knowledge and deeper understanding of the subject may be gained by consulting well-known monographs such as those of Daley and Vere-Jones 36], Resnick 128], Matthes, Kerstan and Mecke 104], Karr 88], Kallenberg 87], among others, as weH as originalliterature. For that enterprise, introductory remarks about various specific topics and extensive references may serve as a guideline.