The author's preface gives an outline: "This book is about weakconvergence methods in metric spaces, with applications sufficient to show their power and utility. The Introduction motivates the definitions and indicates how the theory will yield solutions to problems arising outside it. Chapter 1 sets out the basic general theorems, which are then specialized in Chapter 2 to the space C[0, l ] of continuous functions on the unit interval and in Chapter 3 to the space D [0, 1 ] of functions with discontinuities of the first kind. The results of the first three chapters are used in Chapter 4 to derive a variety of limit theorems for dependent sequences of random variables. " The book develops and expands on Donsker's 1951 and 1952 papers on the invariance principle and empirical distributions. The basic random variables remain real-valued although, of course, measures on C[0, l ] and D[0, l ] are vitally used. Within this framework, there are various possibilities for a different and apparently better treatment of the material. More of the general theory of weak convergence of probabilities on separable metric spaces would be useful. Metrizability of the convergence is not brought up until late in the Appendix. The close relation of the Prokhorov metric and a metric for convergence in probability is (hence) not mentioned (see V. Strassen, Ann. Math. Statist. 36 (1965), 423-439; the reviewer, ibid. 39 (1968), 1563-1572). This relation would illuminate and organize such results as Theorems 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4 which give isolated, ad hoc connections between weak convergence of measures and nearness in probability. In the middle of p. 16, it should be noted that C*(S) consists of signed measures which need only be finitely additive if 5 is not compact. On p. 239, where the author twice speaks of separable subsets having nonmeasurable cardinal, he means "discrete" rather than "separable." Theorem 1.4 is Ulam's theorem that a Borel probability on a complete separable metric space is tight. Theorem 1 of Appendix 3 weakens completeness to topological completeness. After mentioning that probabilities on the rationals are tight, the author says it is an

Convergence of probability measures

Stable non-Gaussian random processes , by G. Samorodnitsky and M. S. Taqqu. Pp. 632. £49.50. 1994. ISBN 0-412-05171-0 (Chapman and Hall).

Preface to the revised edition Remarks on notation 1. Basic examples 2. Characterization and existence 3. Stable processes and their extensions 4. The Levy-Ito decomposition of sample functions 5. Distributional properties of Levy processes 6. Subordination and density transformation 7. Recurrence and transience 8. Potential theory for Levy processes 9. Wiener-Hopf factorizations 10. More distributional properties Supplement Solutions to exercises References and author index Subject index.

Lévy processes and infinitely divisible distributions

The Theory of Stochastic Processes. By D. R. Cox and H. D. Miller. Pp. x, 398. 70s. (Methuen)

Harmonic Analysis and the Theory of Probability. By S. Bochner pp. 176. 35s. 1955. (California University Press and Cambridge University Press)

In this paper we study continuous time random walks such that the holding time in each state has a distribution depending on the state itself. For such processes, we provide integro-differential (backward and forward) equations of Volterra type, exhibiting a position dependent convolution kernel. Particular attention is devoted to the case where the holding times have a power-law decaying density, whose exponent depends on the state itself, which leads to variable order fractional equations. A suitable limit yields a variable order fractional heat equation, which models anomalous diffusions in heterogeneous media.

Semi-Markov Models and Motion in Heterogeneous Media

In the last years, several authors studied a class of continuous-time semi-Markov processes obtained by time-changing Markov processes by hitting times of independent subordinators. Such processes are governed by integro-differential convolution equations of generalized fractional type. The aim of this paper is to develop a discrete-time counterpart of such a theory and to show relationships and differences with respect to the continuous time case. We present a class of discrete-time semi-Markov chains which can be constructed as time-changed Markov chains and we obtain the related governing convolution type equations. Such processes converge weakly to those in continuous time under suitable scaling limits.

https://www.aimsciences.org/article/exportPdf?id=34252ac3-1b6e-4ffd-9b61-34d19ba50373

On discrete-time semi-Markov processes

In this paper we introduce non-decreasing jump processes with independent and time non-homogeneous increments. Although they are not Levy processes, they somehow generalize subordinators in the sense that their Laplace exponents are possibly different Bernstein functions for each time t. By means of these processes, a generalization of subordinate semigroups in the sense of Bochner is proposed. Because of time-inhomogeneity, two-parameter semigroups (propagators) arise and we provide a Phillips formula which leads to time dependent generators. The inverse processes are also investigated and the corresponding governing equations obtained in the form of generalized variable order fractional equations. An application to a generalized subordinate Brownian motion is also examined.

Time-Inhomogeneous Jump Processes and Variable Order Operators

On semi-Markov processes and their Kolmogorov's integro-differential equations

In this paper we introduce non-decreasing jump processes with independent and time non-homogeneous increments. Although they are not Levy processes, they somehow generalize subordinators in the sense that their Laplace exponents are possibly different Bernstein functions for each time $t$. By means of these processes, a generalization of subordinate semigroups in the sense of Bochner is proposed. Because of time-inhomogeneity, two-parameter semigroups (propagators) arise and we provide a Phillips formula which leads to time dependent generators. The inverse processes are also investigated and the corresponding governing equations obtained in the form of generalized variable order fractional equations. An application to a generalized subordinate Brownian motion is also examined.

Costantino Ricciuti

Papers

Semi-Markov Models and Motion in Heterogeneous Media

On discrete-time semi-Markov processes

Time-Inhomogeneous Jump Processes and Variable Order Operators

On semi-Markov processes and their Kolmogorov's integro-differential equations

Time-inhomogeneous jump processes and variable order operators