TY - BOOK ID - 80824481 TI - Large deviations and metastability AU - Olivieri, Enzo AU - Vares, Maria Eulália PY - 2005 VL - 100 SN - 9780511543272 9780521591638 0511080646 9780511080647 0511079885 9780511079887 0511543271 0521591635 1280417188 9781280417184 0521591635 1107127424 9786610417186 051117070X 0511206674 0511297858 PB - New York: Cambridge university press, DB - UniCat KW - Large deviations. KW - Stability. KW - Dynamics KW - Mechanics KW - Motion KW - Vibration KW - Benjamin-Feir instability KW - Equilibrium KW - Deviations, Large KW - Limit theorems (Probability theory) KW - Statistics KW - Mathematical statistics KW - Large deviations KW - Stability UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:80824481 AB - The book provides a general introduction to the theory of large deviations and a wide overview of the metastable behaviour of stochastic dynamics. With only minimal prerequisites, the book covers all the main results and brings the reader to the most recent developments. Particular emphasis is given to the fundamental Freidlin-Wentzell results on small random perturbations of dynamical systems. Metastability is first described on physical grounds, following which more rigorous approaches to its description are developed. Many relevant examples are considered from the point of view of the so-called pathwise approach. The first part of the book develops the relevant tools including the theory of large deviations which are then used to provide a physically relevant dynamical description of metastability. Written to be accessible to graduate students, this book provides an excellent route into contemporary research. ER -