Measure-Valued Processes, Stochastic Partial Differential Equations, and Interacting Systems (Crm Proceedings and Lecture Notes)

The papers in this collection explore the connections between the rapidly developing fields of measure-valued processes, stochastic partial differential equations, and interacting particle systems, each of which has undergone profound development in recent years. Bringing together ideas and tools arising from these different sources, the papers include contributions to major directions of research in these fields, explore the interface between them, and describe newly developing research problems and methodologies. Several papers are devoted to different aspects of measure-valued branching processes (also called superprocesses). Some new classes of these processes are described, including branching in catalytic media, branching with change of mass, and multilevel branching. Sample path and spatial clumping properties of superprocesses are also studied. The papers on Fleming-Viot processes arising in population genetics include discussions of the role of genealogical structures and the application of the Dirichlet form methodology. Several papers are devoted to particle systems studied in statistical physics and to stochastic partial differential equations which arise as hydrodynamic limits of such systems. With overview articles on some of the important new developments in these areas, this book would be an ideal source for an advanced graduate course on superprocesses.