Mik16s Cs6rgO and David M. Mason initiated their collaboration on the topics of this book while attending the CBMS-NSF Regional Confer ence at Texas A & M University in 1981. Independently of them, Sandor Cs6rgO and Lajos Horv~th have begun their work on this subject at Szeged University. The idea of writing a monograph together was born when the four of us met in the Conference on Limit Theorems in Probability and Statistics, Veszpr~m 1982. This collaboration resulted in No. 2 of Technical Report Series of the Laboratory for Research in Statistics and Probability of Carleton University and University of Ottawa, 1983. Afterwards David M. Mason has decided to withdraw from this project. The authors wish to thank him for his contributions. In particular, he has called our attention to the reverse martingale property of the empirical process together with the associated Birnbaum-Marshall inequality (cf.,the proofs of Lemmas 2.4 and 3.2) and to the Hardy inequality (cf. the proof of part (iv) of Theorem 4.1). These and several other related remarks helped us push down the 2 moment condition to EX < 00 in all our weak approximation theorems.

This book presents recently developed statistical methods and theory required for the application of the tools of functional data analysis to problems arising in geosciences, finance, economics and biology. It is concerned with inference based on second order statistics, especially those related to the functional principal component analysis. While it covers inference for independent and identically distributed functional data, its distinguishing feature is an in depth coverage of dependent functional data structures, including functional time series and spatially indexed functions. Specific inferential problems studied include two sample inference, change point analysis, tests for dependence in data and model residuals and functional prediction. All procedures are described algorithmically, illustrated on simulated and real data sets, and supported by a complete asymptotic theory. The book can be read at two levels. Readers interested primarily in methodology will find detailed descriptions of the methods and examples of their application. Researchers interested also in mathematical foundations will find carefully developed theory. The organization of the chapters makes it easy for the reader to choose an appropriate focus. The book introduces the requisite, and frequently used, Hilbert space formalism in a systematic manner. This will be useful to graduate or advanced undergraduate students seeking a self-contained introduction to the subject. Advanced researchers will find novel asymptotic arguments.

This book presents recently developed statistical methods and theory required for the application of the tools of functional data analysis to problems arising in geosciences, finance, economics and biology. It is concerned with inference based on second order statistics, especially those related to the functional principal component analysis. While it covers inference for independent and identically distributed functional data, its distinguishing feature is an in depth coverage of dependent functional data structures, including functional time series and spatially indexed functions. Specific inferential problems studied include two sample inference, change point analysis, tests for dependence in data and model residuals and functional prediction. All procedures are described algorithmically, illustrated on simulated and real data sets, and supported by a complete asymptotic theory. The book can be read at two levels. Readers interested primarily in methodology will find detailed descriptions of the methods and examples of their application. Researchers interested also in mathematical foundations will find carefully developed theory. The organization of the chapters makes it easy for the reader to choose an appropriate focus. The book introduces the requisite, and frequently used, Hilbert space formalism in a systematic manner. This will be useful to graduate or advanced undergraduate students seeking a self-contained introduction to the subject. Advanced researchers will find novel asymptotic arguments.