The focus of this book is a mathematical structure modeling a physical or biological system that can be in any of a number of states.' Each state is characterized by a set of binary features, and differs from some other neighbor state or states by just one of those feature. A simple example of astate' is a partial solution of a jigsaw puzzle, which can be transformed into another partial solution or into the final solution just by adding or removing a single adjoining piece. The evolution of such a system over time is considered. Such a structure is analyzed from algebraic and probabilistic (stochastic) standpoints.

Inhalt
Examples and Preliminaries.- Basic Concepts.- Media and Well-graded Families.- Closed Media and ?-Closed Families.- Well-Graded Families of Relations.- Mediatic Graphs.- Media and Partial Cubes.- Media and Integer Lattices.- Hyperplane arrangements and their media.- Algorithms.- Visualization of Media.- Random Walks on Media.- Applications.