Mathematics and Statistics

This book provides easy access to the basic principles and methods for solving constrained and unconstrained convex optimization problems. Included are sections that cover: basic methods for solving constrained and unconstrained optimization problems with differentiable objective functions, convex sets and their properties, convex functions and their properties and generalizations, and basic principles of sub-differential calculus and convex programming problems. Convex Optimization provides detailed proofs for most of the results presented in the book and also includes many figures and exercises for a better understanding of the material. Exercises are given at the end of each chapter, with solutions and hints to selected exercises given at the end of the book. Undergraduate and graduate students, researchers in different disciplines, as well as practitioners will all benefit from this accessible approach to convex optimization methods.

This book, which studies the links between mathematics and philosophy, highlights a reversal. Initially, the (Greek) philosophers were also mathematicians (geometers). Their vision of the world stemmed from their research in this field (rational and irrational numbers, problem of duplicating the cube, trisection of the angle...). Subsequently, mathematicians freed themselves from philosophy (with Analysis, differential Calculus, Algebra, Topology, etc.), but their researches continued to inspire philosophers (Descartes, Leibniz, Hegel, Husserl, etc.). However, from a certain level of complexity, the mathematicians themselves became philosophers (a movement that begins with Wronsky and Clifford and continues until Grothendieck).

Piecewise-deterministic Markov processes form a class of stochastic models with a sizeable scope of applications: biology, insurance, neuroscience, networks, finance... Such processes are defined by a deterministic motion punctuated by random jumps at random times, and offer simple yet challenging models to study. Nevertheless, the issue of statistical estimation of the parameters ruling the jump mechanism is far from trivial. Responding to new developments in the field as well as to current research interests and needs, Statistical inference for piecewise-deterministic Markov processes offers a detailed and comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art results. It covers a wide range of general processes as well as applied models. The present book also dwells on statistics in the context of Markov chains, since piecewise-deterministic Markov processes are characterized by an embedded Markov chain corresponding to the position of the process right after the jumps.

Estimation of Stochastic Processes is intended for researchers in the field of econometrics, financial mathematics, statistics or signal processing. This book gives a deep understanding of spectral theory and estimation techniques for stochastic processes with stationary increments. It focuses on the estimation of functionals of unobserved values for stochastic processes with stationary increments, including ARIMA processes, seasonal time series and a class of cointegrated sequences. Furthermore, this book presents solutions to extrapolation (forecast), interpolation (missed values estimation) and filtering (smoothing) problems based on observations with and without noise, in discrete and continuous time domains. Extending the classical approach applied when the spectral densities of the processes are known, the minimax method of estimation is developed for a case where the spectral information is incomplete and the relations that determine the least favorable spectral densities for the optimal estimations are found.

This book provides the mathematical basis for investigating numerically equations from physics, life sciences or engineering. Tools for analysis and algorithms are confronted to a large set of relevant examples that show the difficulties and the limitations of the most naïve approaches. These examples not only provide the opportunity to put into practice mathematical statements, but modeling issues are also addressed in detail, through the mathematical perspective.