No Arabic abstract
We consider Galton-Watson branching processes with countable typeset $mathcal{X}$. We study the vectors ${bf q}(A)=(q_x(A))_{xinmathcal{X}}$ recording the conditional probabilities of extinction in subsets of types $Asubseteq mathcal{X}$, given that the type of the initial individual is $x$. We first investigate the location of the vectors ${bf q}(A)$ in the set of fixed points of the progeny generating vector and prove that $q_x({x})$ is larger than or equal to the $x$th entry of any fixed point, whenever it is different from 1. Next, we present equivalent conditions for $q_x(A)< q_x (B)$ for any initial type $x$ and $A,Bsubseteq mathcal{X}$. Finally, we develop a general framework to characterise all emph{distinct} extinction probability vectors, and thereby to determine whether there are finitely many, countably many, or uncountably many distinct vectors. We illustrate our results with examples, and conclude with open questions.
We consider an indecomposable Galton-Watson branching process with countably infinitely many types. Assuming that the process is critical and allowing for infinite variance of the offspring sizes of some (or all) types of particles we describe the asymptotic behavior of the survival probability of the process and establish a Yaglom-type conditional limit theorem for the infinite-dimensional vector of the number of particles of all types.
Given a branching random walk on a set $X$, we study its extinction probability vectors $mathbf q(cdot,A)$. Their components are the probability that the process goes extinct in a fixed $Asubseteq X$, when starting from a vertex $xin X$. The set of extinction probability vectors (obtained letting $A$ vary among all subsets of $X$) is a subset of the set of the fixed points of the generating function of the branching random walk. In particular here we are interested in the cardinality of the set of extinction probability vectors. We prove results which allow to understand whether the probability of extinction in a set $A$ is different from the one of extinction in another set $B$. In many cases there are only two possible extinction probability vectors and so far, in more complicated examples, only a finite number of distinct extinction probability vectors had been explicitly found. Whether a branching random walk could have an infinite number of distinct extinction probability vectors was not known. We apply our results to construct examples of branching random walks with uncountably many distinct extinction probability vectors.
We extend the branching process based numerical algorithm of Bouchard et al. [3], that is dedicated to semilinear PDEs (or BSDEs) with Lipschitz nonlinearity, to the case where the nonlinearity involves the gradient of the solution. As in [3], this requires a localization procedure that uses a priori estimates on the true solution, so as to ensure the well-posedness of the involved Picard iteration scheme, and the global convergence of the algorithm. When, the nonlinearity depends on the gradient, the later needs to be controlled as well. This is done by using a face-lifting procedure. Convergence of our algorithm is proved without any limitation on the time horizon. We also provide numerical simulations to illustrate the performance of the algorithm.
Recently in Barczy, Li and Pap (2015), the notion of a multi-type continuous-state branching process (with immigration) having d-types was introduced as a solution to an d-dimensional vector- valued SDE. Preceding that, work on affine processes, originally motivated by math- ematical finance, in Duffie, Filipovic and Schachermayer (2003) also showed the existence of such processes. See also more recent contributions in this direction due to Gabrielli and Teichmann (2014) and Caballero, Perez Garmendia and Uribe Bravo (2015). Older work on multi-type continuous-state branching processes is more sparse but includes Watanabe (1969) and Ma (2013), where only two types are considered. In this paper we take a completely different approach and consider multi-type continuous-state branching process, now allowing for up to a countable infinity of types, defined instead as a super Markov chain with both local and non-local branching mechanisms. In the spirit of Englander and Kyprianou (2004) we explore their extinction properties and pose a number of open problems.
We introduce and study the dynamics of an emph{immortal} critical branching process. In the classic, critical branching process, particles give birth to a single offspring or die at the same rates. Even though the average population is constant in time, the ultimate fate of the population is extinction. We augment this branching process with immortality by positing that either: (a) a single particle cannot die, or (b) there exists an immortal stem cell that gives birth to ordinary cells that can subsequently undergo critical branching. We discuss the new dynamical aspects of this immortal branching process.