Abstract

Ever since Jakob Bernoulli proved the law of large numbers for Bernoulli random variables in 1713, the subject of limit theorems has been a driving force for the development of probability theory as a whole. The elucidation of different flavours of laws of large number, central limit theorems and laws of iterated logarithm, their extensions to Markov chains or sums of weakly dependent or stationary processes, limit theorems for Banach space valued random variables, etc., have given rise to a rich theory as well as the basic tools for tackling any problem involving randomness.

Today, 300 years after the landmark result of Bernoulli, it is fruitful to look back at the way in which search for limit theorems has shaped the subject. It is also fruitful to consider how the emphasis has evolved over time from simple limit theorems to getting bounds on the rates of convergence or obtaining inequalities, which are of more immediate relevance in applications to nite samples. The current workshop and conference will focus on some of these topics, and also more broadly on issues of current interest in probability theory.

The workshop (January 2-8, 2013) will consist of five short courses on a variety of topics, aimed at the level of graduate students but also of potential interest to researchers in probability and related fields. After the workshop the conference (January 9-11, 2013) will have lectures on recent developments in various relevant fields of probability.