  q-oscillators are associated to the simplest non-commutative example of Hopf
algebra and may be considered to be the basic building blocks for the symmetry
algebras of completely integrable theories. They may also be interpreted as a
special type of spectral nonlinearity, which may be generalized to a wider
class of f-oscillator algebras. In the framework of this nonlinear
interpretation, we discuss the structure of the stochastic process associated
to q-deformation, the role of the q-oscillator as a spectrum-generating algebra
for fast growing point spectrum, the deformation of fermion operators in
solid-state models and the charge-dependent mass of excitations in f-deformed
relativistic quantum fields.
