Probability, Geometry and Integrable Systems

The three main themes of this book, probability theory, differential geometry, and the theory of integrable systems, reflect the broad range of mathematical interests of Henry McKean, to whom it is dedicated. Written by experts in probability, geometry, integrable systems, turbulence, and percolation, the seventeen papers included here demonstrate a wide variety of techniques that have been developed to solve various mathematical problems in these areas. The topics are often combined in an unusual and interesting fashion to give solutions outside of the standard methods. The papers contain some exciting results and offer a guide to the contemporary literature on these subjects.

Reflects the range of mathematical interests of Henry McKean, to whom it is dedicated.

Mark Pinsky is Professor of Mathematics at Northwestern University, where he has been since 1968, following a two-year postdoctoral position at Stanford. He completed his PhD at MIT in 1966, under the direction of Henry McKean. His published work includes 125 research papers and 10 books, including several conference proceedings and textbooks. His most recent book, Introduction to Fourier Analysis and Wavelets, has been translated into Spanish. Pinsky is a member of the AMS, IMS, and MAA and has published in their journals and served on various committees, most recently as Consulting Editor for the AMS. He served on the Executive Committee of MSRI for the period 1996-2000. His current interests include classical harmonic analysis and stochastic Riemannian geometry.

Björn Birnir is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). He served as the UCSB coordinator for nonlinear science from 1985-1990. He is currently the director of the Center for Complex and Nonlinear Science at UC Santa Barbara. His current research interests are: Stochastic nonlinear partial differential equations (SPDEs) and turbulence, dynamical systems theory of nonlinear partial differential equations, mathematical seismology and geomorphology, nonlinear phenomena in quantum mechanical systems, complex and nonlinear models in biology, and applications of the above. He is the author of more than 70 publications.