Markov Fields Over Countable Partially Ordered Sets Extrema And Splitting

Various notions of the Markov property relative to a partial ordering have been proposed by both physicists and mathematicians. This work develops techniques for stying Markov fields on partially ordered sets. We introduce random transformations of the index set which preserves the Markov property of the field. These transformations yield new classes of Markov fields starting from relatively simple ones. Examples include a model for crack formation and a model for the distribution of fibres in a composite material.