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Abstracts of the Lectures

I. Measure Theory (Pre-requisite) by K. Rama Murthy

Measure spaces, Probability spaces, Measurable functions / random variables, Lebesgue measure, Integration (Lebesgue Integral), Fatou's lemma, Monotone convergence theorem, Dominated convergence theorem, Borel-Cantelli lemma, Fubini's theorem, Radon-Nikodym theorem / Conditional expectation, Types of convergences.

References:

  • K.R. Parthasarathy: Introduction to Probability and Meausre. Macmillan (India) 1977.
  • P. Billingseley: Probability and Measure John Wiley & Sons (1995).
  • Inder K Rana: An Introduction to Measure and Integration. (First Edition) Narosa Publishers 1977.



    II. Stochastic Optimal Control by M.K. Ghosh

    We study controlled diffusion processes governed by controlled stochastic differential equations of Ito's type. We introduce the notion of admissible controls, Markov controls etc. We discuss various cost evaluation criteria over finite and infinite horizon. We derive Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations using dynamic programming principle. We discuss the existence and uniqueness of solutions of these equations. Finally we give a characterization of optimal controls as minimizing selectors of appropriate (pseudo) Hamiltonians associated with the HJB equations.



    III. Brownian Motion by A.Goswami, B.Rajeev and S.Athreya

    Existence, basic properties - like scaling , independent increments, finite dimensional distributions, Martingales associated with BM, statementof Levy's theorem, path properties (nowhere differentiability, unbounded variation, quadratic variation).

    Markov Property and applications : Ordinary Markov property, Strong Markov property, Reflection principle, and Zero set.

    Brownian motion on Path space, weak convergence and the invariance principle.



    IV. Markov Chains by K.B. Athreya

    Review of Markov chains in discrete time and countable state space and the limit theory of such chains. Markov chains on general state spaces - basic definitions and examples. Chapman-Kolmogorov equations. Harris irreducibility, recurrence and minorization. Limit theorems for regenerative sequences. Limit theory of Harris recurrent Markov chains. Markov chains on metric spaces - Feller continuity, Stationary measures and convergence questions.

    Pre-requisities:

    Basic theory of Markov chains in discrete time and countable state space. Basic real analysis, convergence of sequences in Ceasaro mean, power series, interchange of limit and summation, interchange of limit and integration.



    IV. Abelian Sand Pile Model by S.Athreya

    We will discuss the Abelian sandpile model in the box $\Lam_n = [-n, n]^d \cap \Zd$ for $d \ge 1$. We shall discuss its basic set-up and main properties. We will present simulations for the same. Time permitting we will discuss current research and some unsolved problems in the area.



    V. Percolation theory Course outline by Rahul Roy

    We will study percolation on trees and on the square lattice.

    On the tree, we will define the critical parameter and the critical exponents and obtain them explicitly. Here we will need results from branching processes.

    On the square lattice, we will sketch the proof of the fact that the critical parameter for bond percolation on the square lattice is 1/2. For this we will need to develop some correlation inequalities as well as study the growth of the percolation cluster.



    VI. Stochastic Calculus by B.V. Rao

    In these lectures we start with the Wiener Integral and then proceed to the definition of Ito Integral. We shall prove a version of Ito Formula, a chain rule for Brownian differentials. We shall briefly discuss the existence of local time using Tanaka Formula.


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