In this thesis, we study the Stieltjes transforms of the probability distribution functions and compare them with the characteristic functions of the probability distribution functions simultaneously. In section 1 and section 2, we introduce briefly the Stieltjes transforms. In section 3, we conclude that the Stieltjes transform is similar to the complexion of symmetry under the condition of symmetric probability distribution functions. In section 4, we discuss the relation between Stieltjes transforms of probability distribution functions and the density of probability distribution functions. We also show that the nth derivative of Stieltjes transform is uniformly continuous on the upper complex plane.

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It was conjectured in the early 1950¡¯s that the empirical spectral distribution (ESD) of an $n \times n$ matrix whose entries are independent and identically distributed with mean zero and variance one, normalized by a factor of $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}$, converges to the uniform distribution over the unit disk on the complex plane, which is called the circular law. The goal of this thesis is to prove the so called Replacement Principle introduced by Tao and Vu which is a crucial step in their recent proof of the circular law in full generality. It gives a general criterion for the difference of the ESDs of two normalised random matrices $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}A_n$, $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}B_n$ to converge to 0. / Thesis (Master, Mathematics & Statistics) -- Queen's University, 2009-07-11 14:57:44.225

The spectral distribution function of random matrices is an information-carrying object widely studied within Random matrix theory. In this thesis we combine the results of the theory together with the idea of free independence introduced by Voiculescu (1985). Important theoretical part of the thesis consists of the introduction to Free probability theory, which justifies use of asymptotic freeness with respect to particular matrices as well as the use of Stieltjes and R-transform. Both transforms are presented together with their properties. The aim of thesis is to point out characterizations of those classes of the matrices, which have closed form expressions for the asymptotic spectral distribution function. We consider all matrices which can be decomposed to the sum of asymptotically free independent summands. In particular, explicit calculations are performed in order to illustrate the use of asymptotic free independence to obtain the asymptotic spectral distribution for a matrix Q and generalize Marcenko and Pastur (1967) theorem. The matrix Q is defined as <img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?Q%20=%20%5Cfrac%7B1%7Dn%20X_1X%5E%5Cprime_1%20+%20%5Ccdot%5Ccdot%5Ccdot%20+%20%5Cfrac%7B1%7Dn%20X_kX%5E%5Cprime_k," />  where Xi is p × n matrix following a matrix normal distribution, Xi ~ Np,n(0, \sigma^2I, I). Finally, theorems pointing out classes of matrices Q which lead to closed formula for the asymptotic spectral distribution will be presented. Particularly, results for matrices with inverse Stieltjes transform, with respect to the composition, given by a ratio of polynomials of 1st and 2nd degree, are given.

The spectral distribution function of random matrices is an information-carrying object widely studied within Random matrix theory. In this thesis we combine the results of the theory together with the idea of free independence introduced by Voiculescu (1985). Important theoretical part of the thesis consists of the introduction to Free probability theory, which justifies use of asymptotic freeness with respect to particular matrices as well as the use of Stieltjes and R-transform. Both transforms are presented together with their properties. The aim of thesis is to point out characterizations of those classes of the matrices, which have closed form expressions for the asymptotic spectral distribution function. We consider all matrices which can be decomposed to the sum of asymptotically free independent summands. In particular, explicit calculations are performed in order to illustrate the use of asymptotic free independence to obtain the asymptotic spectral distribution for a matrix Q and generalize Marcenko and Pastur (1967) theorem. The matrix Q is defined as <img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?Q%20=%20%5Cfrac%7B1%7Dn%20X_1X%5E%5Cprime_1%20+%20%5Ccdot%5Ccdot%5Ccdot%20+%20%5Cfrac%7B1%7Dn%20X_kX%5E%5Cprime_k," />  where Xi is p × n matrix following a matrix normal distribution, Xi ~ Np,n(0, \sigma^2I, I). Finally, theorems pointing out classes of matrices Q which lead to closed formula for the asymptotic spectral distribution will be presented. Particularly, results for matrices with inverse Stieltjes transform, with respect to the composition, given by a ratio of polynomials of 1st and 2nd degree, are given.

Several manufacturers of road vehicles today are working on developing autonomous vehicles. One subject that is often up for discussion when it comes to integrating autonomous road vehicles into the infrastructure is the safety aspect. There is in the context no common view of how safety should be quantified. As a contribution to this discussion we propose describing each potential hazardous event of a vehicle as a Semi-Markov Process (SMP). A reliability-based method for using the semi-Markov representation to calculate the probability of a hazardous event to occur is presented. The method simplifies the expression for the reliability using the Laplace-Stieltjes transform and calculates the transform of the reliability exactly. Numerical inversion algorithms are then applied to approximate the reliability up to a desired error tolerance. The method is validated using alternative techniques and is thereafter applied to a system for automated steering based on a real example from the industry. A desired evolution of the method is to involve a framework for how to represent each hazardous event as a SMP. / Flertalet tillverkare av vägfordon jobbar idag på att utveckla autonoma fordon. Ett ämne ofta på agendan i diskussionen om att integrera autonoma fordon på vägarna är säkerhet. Det finns i sammanhanget ingen klar bild över hur säkerhet ska kvantifieras. Som ett bidrag till denna diskussion föreslås här att beskriva varje potentiellt farlig situation av ett fordon som en Semi-Markov process (SMP). En metod presenteras för att via beräkning av funktionssäkerheten nyttja semi-Markov representationen för att beräkna sannolikheten för att en farlig situation ska uppstå. Metoden nyttjar Laplace-Stieltjes transformen för att förenkla uttrycket för funktionssäkerheten och beräknar transformen av funktionssäkerheten exakt. Numeriska algoritmer för den inversa transformen appliceras sedan för att beräkna funktionssäkerheten upp till en viss feltolerans. Metoden valideras genom alternativa tekniker och appliceras sedan på ett system för autonom styrning baserat på ett riktigt exempel från industrin. En fördelaktig utveckling av metoden som presenteras här skulle vara att involvera ett ramverk för hur varje potentiellt farlig situation ska representeras som en SMP.

Matrix function approximation is a current focus of worldwide interest and finds application in a variety of areas of applied mathematics and statistics. In this thesis we focus on the approximation of A..=2b, where A 2 Rnn is a large, sparse symmetric positive definite matrix and b 2 Rn is a vector. In particular, we will focus on matrix function techniques for sampling from Gaussian Markov random fields in applied statistics and the solution of fractional-in-space partial differential equations. Gaussian Markov random fields (GMRFs) are multivariate normal random variables characterised by a sparse precision (inverse covariance) matrix. GMRFs are popular models in computational spatial statistics as the sparse structure can be exploited, typically through the use of the sparse Cholesky decomposition, to construct fast sampling methods. It is well known, however, that for sufficiently large problems, iterative methods for solving linear systems outperform direct methods. Fractional-in-space partial differential equations arise in models of processes undergoing anomalous diffusion. Unfortunately, as the fractional Laplacian is a non-local operator, numerical methods based on the direct discretisation of these equations typically requires the solution of dense linear systems, which is impractical for fine discretisations. In this thesis, novel applications of Krylov subspace approximations to matrix functions for both of these problems are investigated. Matrix functions arise when sampling from a GMRF by noting that the Cholesky decomposition A = LLT is, essentially, a `square root' of the precision matrix A. Therefore, we can replace the usual sampling method, which forms x = L..T z, with x = A..1=2z, where z is a vector of independent and identically distributed standard normal random variables. Similarly, the matrix transfer technique can be used to build solutions to the fractional Poisson equation of the form n = A..=2b, where A is the finite difference approximation to the Laplacian. Hence both applications require the approximation of f(A)b, where f(t) = t..=2 and A is sparse. In this thesis we will compare the Lanczos approximation, the shift-and-invert Lanczos approximation, the extended Krylov subspace method, rational approximations and the restarted Lanczos approximation for approximating matrix functions of this form. A number of new and novel results are presented in this thesis. Firstly, we prove the convergence of the matrix transfer technique for the solution of the fractional Poisson equation and we give conditions by which the finite difference discretisation can be replaced by other methods for discretising the Laplacian. We then investigate a number of methods for approximating matrix functions of the form A..=2b and investigate stopping criteria for these methods. In particular, we derive a new method for restarting the Lanczos approximation to f(A)b. We then apply these techniques to the problem of sampling from a GMRF and construct a full suite of methods for sampling conditioned on linear constraints and approximating the likelihood. Finally, we consider the problem of sampling from a generalised Matern random field, which combines our techniques for solving fractional-in-space partial differential equations with our method for sampling from GMRFs.