The book is a valuable resource for understanding the latest developments in Semi-Markov Processes and reliability. Practitioners, researchers and professionals in applied mathematics, control and engineering who work in areas of reliability, lifetime data analysis, statistics, probability, and engineering will find this book an up-to-date overview of the field.

"The book presents an introductory and at the same time rather comprehensive treatment of semi-Markov processes and their applications to reliability theory. It also provides some general background (like measure theory, Markov processes and Laplace transform), which makes it accessible to a broader audience. The book may be a useful tool for researchers and students interested in the theory of semi-Markov processes or its applications to reliability problems."

Applications of Mathematics

Klappentext

The theory of stochastic processes, for science and engineering, can be considered as an extension of probability theory allowing modeling of the evolution of systems over time. The modern theory of Markov processes has its origins in the studies of A.A. Markov (1856-1922) on sequences of experiments "connected in a chain" and in the attempts to describe mathematically the physical phenomenon Brownian motion. The theory of stochastic processes entered in a period of intensive development when the idea of Markov property was brought in. This book is a modern overall view of semi-Markov processes and its applications in reliability. It is accessible to readers with a first course in Probability theory (including the basic notions of Markov chain). The text contains many examples which aid in the understanding of the theoretical notions and shows how to apply them to concrete physical situations including algorithmic simulations. Many examples of the concrete applications in reliability are given. Features: Processes associated to semi-Markov kernel for general and discrete state spaces Asymptotic theory of processes and of additive functionals Statistical estimation of semi-Markov kernel and of reliability function Monte Carlo simulation * Applications in reliability and maintenance The book is a valuable resource for understanding the latest developments in Semi-Markov Processes and reliability. Practitioners, researchers and professionals in applied mathematics, control and engineering who work in areas of reliability, lifetime data analysis, statistics, probability, and engineering will find this book an up-to-date overview of the field.

Inhalt
1 Introduction to Stochastic Processes and the Renewal Process.- 1.1 Preliminaries.- 1.2 Stopping Times.- 1.3 Important Families of Stochastic Processes.- 1.4 Renewal Processes.- 1.5 Regenerative Processes.- 2 Markov Renewal Processes.- 2.1 The Semi-Markov Kernel.- 2.2 Processes Associated to a Semi-Markov Kernel.- 2.3 Specification of a Markov Renewal Process.- 2.4 Robustness of Markov Renewal Processes.- 2.5 Korolyuk's State Space Merging Method.- 3 Semi-Markov Processes.- 3.1 Basic Definitions and Properties.- 3.2 Markov Renewal Equation.- 3.3 Functional of the Semi-Markov Process.- 3.4 Associated Markov Processes.- 3.5 Asymptotic Behavior.- 4 Countable State Space Markov Renewal and Semi-Markov Processes.- 4.1 Definitions.- 4.2 Classification of States.- 4.3 Markov Renewal Equation.- 4.4 Asymptotic Behavior.- 4.5 Finite State Space Semi-Markov Processes.- 4.6 Distance Between Transition Functions.- 4.7 Phase Type Semi-Markov Kernels.- 4.8 Elements of Statistical Estimation.- 5 Reliability of Semi-Markov Systems.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Basic Definitions.- 5.3 Coherent Systems.- 5.4 Reliability Modeling in the Finite State Space Case.- 5.5 Methods for Obtaining Transition Probabilities.- 5.6 Reliability and Performability Modeling in the General State Space Case.- 6 Examples of Reliability Modeling.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 A Three-State System.- 6.3 A System with Mixed Constant Repair Time.- 6.4 A System with Multiphase Repair.- 6.5 Availability of a Series System.- 6.6 A Maintenance Model.- 6.7 A System with Nonregenerative States.- 6.8 A Two-Component System with Cold Standby.- 6.9 Markov Renewal Shock Models.- 6.10 Stochastic Petri Nets.- 6.11 Monte Carlo Methods.- A Measures and Probability.- A.I Fundamentals.- A.2 Conditional Distributions.- A.3 FundamentalFormulas.- A.4 Examples.- B Laplace-Stieltjes Transform.- C Weak Convergence.- References.- Notation.