English

Delayed logistic equation as a limit of long memory Markov chains

Probability 2026-04-02 v1

Abstract

We introduce and analyze a long-memory continuous-time Markov chain on R+\mathbb{R}_{+} whose jump mechanism depends explicitly on a state in the past. From the present state x0x_0, the process jumps to x0(1+1N)x_0\left(1+\frac{1}{N}\right) or x0(1xτNN2)x_0\left(1-\frac{x_{-\lfloor \tau N \rfloor}}{N^2}\right), each at rate 12\tfrac{1}{2}, where xτNx_{-\lfloor \tau N \rfloor} denotes the state located τN\lfloor \tau N \rfloor jumps backward in time. Here the delay τ>0\tau > 0 is fixed and NN is the scaling parameter. The initial condition is prescribed by a vector of length τN+1\lfloor \tau N \rfloor + 1, all of whose entries are equal to μN\mu N. Using a genuine space-time replacement lemma, we prove that, as NN \to \infty, the rescaled process converges to a deterministic limit governed by the Delayed Logistic Equation (also known as the Hutchinson equation) with delay τ\tau and initial condition ρ(t)μ\rho(t) \equiv \mu for t[τ,0]t \in [-\tau, 0].

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.00742,
  title  = {Delayed logistic equation as a limit of long memory Markov chains},
  author = {Eldon Barros and Dirk Erhard and Tertuliano Franco and Milton Jara},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.00742},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

16 pages, 6 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:48:01.322Z