English

Limit distributions for large P\'{o}lya urns

Probability 2010-12-30 v2

Abstract

We consider a two-color P\'{o}lya urn in the case when a fixed number SS of balls is added at each step. Assume it is a large urn that is, the second eigenvalue mm of the replacement matrix satisfies 1/2<m/S11/2<m/S\leq1. After nn drawings, the composition vector has asymptotically a first deterministic term of order nn and a second random term of order nm/Sn^{m/S}. The object of interest is the limit distribution of this random term. The method consists in embedding the discrete-time urn in continuous time, getting a two-type branching process. The dislocation equations associated with this process lead to a system of two differential equations satisfied by the Fourier transforms of the limit distributions. The resolution is carried out and it turns out that the Fourier transforms are explicitly related to Abelian integrals over the Fermat curve of degree mm. The limit laws appear to constitute a new family of probability densities supported by the whole real line.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0907.1477,
  title  = {Limit distributions for large P\'{o}lya urns},
  author = {Brigitte Chauvin and Nicolas Pouyanne and Reda Sahnoun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0907.1477},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-AAP696 the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org)

R2 v1 2026-06-21T13:22:58.119Z