In max-plus algebra we work with the max-plus semi-ring which is the set Rmax=[-infinity,infinity) together with operations "a+b"=max(a,b) and "ab"= a +b. The additive and multiplicative identities are taken to be
epsilon=-infinity and e=0 respectively. Max-plus algebra is one of many idempotent semi-rings which have been considered in various
fields
of mathematics. Max-plus algebra is becoming more popular not only because its operations are associative, commutative and distributive as
in conventional algebra but because it takes systems that are non-linear in conventional algebra and makes them linear. Max-plus
algebra also arises as the algebra of asymptotic growth rates of functions in conventional algebra which will play a significant role in several aspects of this thesis. This thesis is a survey of max-plus algebra that will concentrate on max-plus linear
algebra results. We will then consider from a max-plus perspective several results by Wentzell and Freidlin for finite state Markov chains with an asymptotic dependence.
