The ideas and principles of stochastic analysis have managed to penetrate into various fields of pure and applied mathematics in the last 15 years; it is particularly true for mathematical physics. This volume provides a wide range of applications of stochastic analysis in fields as varied as statistical mechanics, hydrodynamics, Yang-Mills theory and spin-glass theory.The proper concept of stochastic dynamics relevant to each type of application is described in detail here. Altogether, these approaches illustrate the reasons why their dissemination in other fields is likely to accelerate in the years to come.

This volume represents the outgrowth of an ongoing workshop on stochastic analysis held in Lisbon. The nine survey articles in the volume extend concepts from classical probability and stochastic processes to a number of areas of mathematical physics. It is a good reference text for researchers and advanced students in the fields of probability, stochastic processes, analysis, geometry, mathematical physics, and physics. Key topics covered include: nonlinear stochastic wave equations, completely positive maps, Mehler-type semigroups on Hilbert spaces, entropic projections, and many others.

The seminar on Stochastic Analysis and Mathematical Physics started in 1984 at the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago and has been an on going research activity. Since 1995, the group has organized international workshops as a way of promoting a broader dialogue among experts in the areas of classical and quantum stochastic analysis, mathematical physics and physics. This volume, consisting primarily of contributions to the Third Inter national Workshop on Stochastic Analysis and Mathematical Physics (in Spanish ANESTOC), held in Santiago, Chile, in October 1998, focuses on an analysis of quantum dynamics and related problems in probability the ory. Various articles investigate quantum dynamical semigroups and new results on q-deformed oscillator algebras, while others examine the appli cation of classical stochastic processes in quantum modeling. As in previous workshops, the topic of quantum flows and semigroups occupied an important place. In her paper, R. Carbone uses a spectral type analysis to obtain exponential rates of convergence towards the equilibrium of a quantum dynamical semigroup in the £2 sense. The method is illus trated with a quantum extension of a classical birth and death process. Quantum extensions of classical Markov processes lead to subtle problems of domains. This is in particular illustrated by F. Fagnola, who presents a pathological example of a semigroup for which the largest * -subalgebra (of the von Neumann algebra of bounded linear operators of £2 (lR+, IC)), con tained in the domain of its infinitesimal generator, is not a-weakly dense.

The seminar on Stochastic Analysis and Mathematical Physics of the Ca tholic University of Chile, started in Santiago in 1984, has being followed and enlarged since 1995 by a series of international workshops aimed at pro moting a wide-spectrum dialogue between experts on the fields of classical and quantum stochastic analysis, mathematical physics, and physics. This volume collects most of the contributions to the Fourth Interna tional Workshop on Stochastic Analysis and Mathematical Physics (whose Spanish abbreviation is "ANESTOC"; in English, "STAMP"), held in San tiago, Chile, from January 5 to 11, 2000. The workshop style stimulated a vivid exchange of ideas which finally led to a number of written con tributions which I am glad to introduce here. However, we are currently submitted to a sort of invasion of proceedings books, and we do not want to increase our own shelves with a new one of the like. On the other hand, the editors of conference proceedings have to use different exhausting and com pulsive strategies to persuade authors to write and provide texts in time, a task which terrifies us. As a result, this volume is aimed at smoothly start ing a new kind of publication. What we would like to have is a collection of books organized like our seminar.

The book collects a series of papers centered on two main streams: Feynman path integral approach to Quantum Mechanics and statistical mechanics of quantum open systems. Key authors discuss the state-of-the-art within their fields of expertise. In addition, the volume includes a number of contributed papers with new results, which have been thoroughly refereed.The contributions in this volume highlight emergent research in the area of stochastic analysis and mathematical physics, focusing, in particular on Feynman functional integral approach and, on the other hand, in quantum probability. The book is addressed to an audience of mathematical physicists, as well as specialists in probability theory, stochastic analysis and operator algebras.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)• CC Proceedings — Engineering & Physical Sciences

Two-part treatment begins with a self-contained introduction to the subject, followed by applications to stochastic analysis and mathematical physics. "A welcome addition." — Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 1986 edition.

The ideas and principles of stochastic analysis have managed to penetrate into various fields of pure and applied mathematics in the last 15 years; it is particularly true for mathematical physics. This volume provides a wide range of applications of stochastic analysis in fields as varied as statistical mechanics, hydrodynamics, Yang-Mills theory and spin-glass theory.The proper concept of stochastic dynamics relevant to each type of application is described in detail here. Altogether, these approaches illustrate the reasons why their dissemination in other fields is likely to accelerate in the years to come./a

Methods of global analysis and stochastic analysis are most often applied in mathematical physics as separate entities, thus forming important directions in the field. However, while combination of the two subject areas is rare, it is fundamental for the consideration of a broader class of problems. This book develops methods of Global Analysis and Stochastic Analysis such that their combination allows one to have a more or less common treatment for areas of mathematical physics that traditionally are considered as divergent and requiring different methods of investigation. Global and Stochastic Analysis with Applications to Mathematical Physics covers branches of mathematics that are currently absent in monograph form. Through the demonstration of new topics of investigation and results, both in traditional and more recent problems, this book offers a fresh perspective on ordinary and stochastic differential equations and inclusions (in particular, given in terms of Nelson's mean derivatives) on linear spaces and manifolds. Topics covered include classical mechanics on non-linear configuration spaces, problems of statistical and quantum physics, and hydrodynamics. A self-contained book that provides a large amount of preliminary material and recent results which will serve to be a useful introduction to the subject and a valuable resource for further research. It will appeal to researchers, graduate and PhD students working in global analysis, stochastic analysis and mathematical physics.