scientific article; zbMATH DE number 193558

Publication date 5 June 1993

compact subgroups convolution semigroup Delphic semigroups Hungarian semigroups indecomposable factors infinitely divisible Khinchin's factorization theorem topological semigroup

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General structure theory for semigroups (20M10) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to probability theory (60-02) Probability distributions: general theory (60E05) Infinitely divisible distributions; stable distributions (60E07)

Review text

The set \(P(R)\) of all probability distributions on the line is a topological semigroup with respect to convolution and weak topology. The main theorems of the arithmetic of this semigroup due to Khinchin are the following: (i) Every non-degenerate distribution is representable by the convolution of a distribution without indecomposable factors and a finite or countable set of indecomposable distributions. (ii) Every distribution without indecomposable factors is infinitely divisible. Both theorems were extended by Parthasarathy, Rao and Varadhan on the convolution semigroup \(P(G)\) of all probability distributions on a locally compact abelian group \(G\) but, of course, with some changes in formulations caused by the possibility of the existence of idempotent factors. The notions of indecomposability and infinite divisibility may be extended in a natural way to abstract semigroups. The problem of describing the class of abstract semigroups for which analogues of Khinchin's theorems are true, was originally considered by D. Kendall. The theory of Delphic semigroups, which he developed, allows a wide set of semigroups, which are essentially different from the semigroup \(P(R)\) to be found and investigated. The attempts to apply this theory to the semigroup \(P(R)\) were not successful and this is why R. Davidson improved the matter by introducing a wider class of semigroups. However, this class does not contain the semigroup \(P(G)\) for abelian groups \(G\) with compact subgroups. This monograph contains the development of the axiomatic theory of such semigroups (called by the authors ``Hungarian semigroups) which is particularly applicable to the semigroups \(P(G)\). One of the most essential distinctions of this theory from D. Kendall's consists in the omitting of the axiom of the existence of a special homomorphism from the semigroup into the additive semigroup of non-negative numbers. This theory operates with a lot of new notions. The authors consider the application of their theory to semigroups \(P(R)\), \(P(G)\) and others of both probabilistic and analytic nature. Some of these semigroups were not studied previously, but even for the known ones (\(P(R),P(G)\), for example) new results are obtained. Many unsolved problems are formulated. The bibliography is very extensive.

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