Stochastic Processes in Nonequilibrium Systems: Sitges International School of Statistical Mechanics, June 1978, Sitges, Barcelona/Spain (Lecture Notes in Physics, 84)

An introduction to stochastic processes for physicists.- Stochastic differential equations with non-Markov processes.- Aspects of the theory of brownian motion.- Path-integral methods in Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and statistics.- Synergetios -- a field beyond irreversible Thermodynamics.- Computer results on transport properties.- Kinetics of phase transitions.- Stochastic behavior of simple dynamical systems.- Fokker-Planck adescription of a Navier-Stokes fluid with instability.- Operator formalism for continuous Markov processes.- Applications of path integrals.- Functional integral methods for random fields.- Kinetic equations from Hamiltonian dynamics : The Markovian limit.- Boltzmann behaviour of a spatially inhomogeneous gas.- An example of processes in physics that are nonlocal in time : The interdependence of rotational processes in the dynamics of simple fluids.- Stochastic theory for hydrodynamical systems.- Fluctuation spectra near the threshold of a current instability.- Stochastic electrodynamics: Example of a nonlinear stochastic differential equation with a non white noise stochastic force.- Brownian motion in persistent fluctuations (without thermal equilibrium).- Covariant Wigner-function approach to relativistic quantum statistics.- Stochastic model of current-coupled channels in nerve membranes.- Derivation of stochastic transport equations for systems of interacting Brownian particles.- Thermodynamic instability; oscillations, and modification of nerve synapses.- Discussion of a random-walk model with correlated jumps.- Discussion of a quantum theory of diffusion including memory effects.- The dynamo effect in magnethydrodynamic turbulence.- Dynamical correlations in nonlinear chemical reactions.- A cooperative effect with significance in biological evolution.