We study the statistics of record-breaking events in daily stock prices of 366 stocks from the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index. Both the record events in the daily stock prices themselves and the records in the daily returns are discussed. In both cases we try to describe the record...

The coarsening of an array of vortex ripples prepared in an unstable state is discussed within the framework of a simple mass transfer model first introduced by K. H. Andersen et al. (see Ref. 1). Two scenarios for the selection of the final pattern are identified. When the initial state is...

Biological evolution in a sequence space with random fitnesses is studied within Eigen's quasispecies model. A strong selection limit is employed, in which the population resides at a single sequence at all times. Evolutionary trajectories start at a randomly chosen sequence and proceed to the...

The theory of morphological instabilities caused by reduced interlayer transport in homoepitaxial crystal growth is briefly reviewed. The discussion is based on a large scale phenomenological equation of motion for the growing surface, which is motivated by the notion of growth-induced mass...

A restricted solid-on-solid model where surface relaxation occurs by atom desorption and by surface diffusion is introduced and studied in 1+1 dimensions. The interface profile is mapped onto a four-vertex model and the kinetic equation describing the moving surface is solved exactly for small...

We explore some aspects of the relationship between biological evolution processes and the mathematical theory of records. For Eigen's quasispecies model with an uncorrelated fitness landscape, we show that the evolutionary trajectories traced out by a population initially localized at a...

Several aspects of the theory of epitaxial crystal growth from atomic or molecular beams are developed from the perspective of statistical physics. Lectures are devoted to the rate equation theory of two-dimensional nucleation and its limitations; the growth of multilayer wedding cakes in the...

The growth and dynamics of solid surfaces displays a multitude of power law relationships, which are often associated with geometric self-similarity. In many cases the mechanisms behind these power laws are comparatively trivial, and require little more than dimensional analysis for their...