English

The probabilities of extinction in a branching random walk on a strip

Probability 2020-09-09 v2

Abstract

We consider a class of multitype Galton-Watson branching processes with a countably infinite type set Xd\mathcal{X}_d whose mean progeny matrices have a block lower Hessenberg form. For these processes, the probability q(A)\boldsymbol{q}(A) of extinction in subsets of types AXdA\subseteq \mathcal{X}_d may differ from the global extinction probability q\boldsymbol{q} and the partial extinction probability q~\tilde{\boldsymbol{q}}. After deriving partial and global extinction criteria, we develop conditions for q<q(A)<q~\boldsymbol{q}<\boldsymbol{q}(A)<\tilde{\boldsymbol{q}}. We then present an iterative method to compute the vector q(A)\boldsymbol{q}(A) for any set AA. Finally, we investigate the location of the vectors q(A)\boldsymbol{q}(A) in the set of fixed points of the progeny generating vector.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1805.07634,
  title  = {The probabilities of extinction in a branching random walk on a strip},
  author = {Peter Braunsteins and Sophie Hautphenne},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.07634},
  year   = {2020}
}