Microsurveys in Discrete Probability

This book contains eleven articles surveying emerging topics in discrete probability. The papers are based on talks given by experts at the DIMACS "Microsurveys in Discrete Probability" workshop held at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, in 1997. This compilation of current research in discrete probability provides a unique overview that is not available elsewhere in book or survey form. Topics covered in the volume include: Markov chains (pefect sampling, coupling from the past, mixing times), random trees (spanning trees on infinite graphs, enumeration of trees and forests, tree-valued Markov chains), distributional estimates (method of bounded differences, Stein-Chen method for normal approximation), dynamical percolation, Poisson processes, and reconstructing random walk from scenery.