This project is concerned with the development of a geometric/analytic theory of random fields, primarily those that arise from stochastic partial differential equations [SPDEs, for short]. Special emphasis is placed on certain SPDEs and related random fields that play a central role in various areas of pure and applied mathematics, mathematical oceanography, stochastic hydrology, geostatistics, and mathematical physics. The investigators will develop probabilistic, geometric, and analytic tools that will lead to a deeper understanding of a large family of physically- and mathematically-interesting SPDEs and related random fields. The investigators believe that these tools will have sufficient novelty to open new research areas, solve a number of long-standing open problems in the theory of SPDEs and related random fields, and also further promote their applicability. In addition, the activities include a sustained program to train graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and to develop their careers in the mathematical and statistical sciences.
It is both significant and challenging to characterize the fine local and asymptotic structure of SPDEs and related random fields. In their past investigations, the investigators have established a series of results on the asymptotic behavior, intermittency, and macroscopic-scale multifractal properties of the solutions of SPDEs and related random fields, developed potential theories for additive Levy processes and the Brownian sheet, and used them to resolve several outstanding open problems in Levy processes, the Brownian sheet, and the theory of parabolic stochastic partial differential equations. The investigators have developed ideas, based on probability theory and geometric measure theory, for the analysis of non-Markovian Gaussian and stable random fields. They have also introduced renewal-theoretic and coupling techniques for the asymptotic analysis of solutions to a large class of nonlinear SPDEs. They plan to continue their investigation of precise quantitative connections between SPDEs, random fields, potential theory, and the geometry of random fractals. They believe that further pursuit of these connections will ultimately yield novel insights into the structure of SPDEs,large-scale physical multifractals, and related random fields.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
