Factorization Calculus and Geometric Probability (Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications, Series Number 33)

The classical subjects of geometric probability and integral geometry, and the more modern one of stochastic geometry, are developed here in a novel way to provide a framework in which they can be studied. The author focuses on factorization properties of measures and probabilities implied by the assumption of their invariance with respect to a group, in order to investigate nontrivial factors. The study of these properties is the central theme of the book. Basic facts about integral geometry and random point process theory are developed in a simple geometric way, so that the whole approach is suitable for a nonspecialist audience. Even in the later chapters, where the factorization principles are applied to geometrical processes, the only prerequisites are standard courses on probability and analysis. The main ideas presented have application to such areas as stereology and geometrical statistics and this book will be a useful reference book for university students studying probability theory and stochastic geometry, and research mathematicians interested in this area.