Rolf Gohm

This is the second of two volumes containing the revised and completed notes of lectures given at the school "Quantum Independent Increment Processes: Structure and Applications to Physics". This school was held at the Alfried-Krupp-Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald in March, 2003, and supported by the Volkswagen Foundation. The school gave an introduction to current research on quantum independent increment processes aimed at graduate students and non-specialists working in classical and quantum probability, operator algebras, and mathematical physics. The present second volume contains the following lectures: "Random Walks on Finite Quantum Groups" by Uwe Franz and Rolf Gohm, "Quantum Markov Processes and Applications in Physics" by Burkhard Kümmerer, Classical and Free Infinite Divisibility and Lévy Processes" by Ole E. Barndorff-Nielsen, Steen Thorbjornsen, and "Lévy Processes on Quantum Groups and Dual Groups" by Uwe Franz.

Quantum probability and the theory of operator algebras are both concerned with the study of noncommutative dynamics. Focusing on stationary processes with discrete-time parameter, this book presents (without many prerequisites) some basic problems of interest to both fields, on topics including extensions and dilations of completely positive maps, Markov property and adaptedness, endomorphisms of operator algebras and the applications arising from the interplay of these themes. Much of the material is new, but many interesting questions are accessible even to the reader equipped only with basic knowledge of quantum probability and operator algebras.