Eigenvalues, Inequalities, and Ergodic Theory

A problem of broad interest – the estimation of the spectral gap for matrices or differential operators (Markov chains or diffusions) – is covered in this book. The area has a wide range of applications, and provides a tool to describe the phase transitions and the effectiveness of random algorithms. In particular, the book studies a subset of the general problem, taking some approaches that have, up till now, only appeared largely in the Chinese literature.Eigenvalues, Inequalities and Ergodic Theory serves as an introduction to this developing field, and provides an overview of the methods used, in an accessible and concise manner.