English

Multiplicatively closed Markov models must form Lie algebras

Group Theory 2017-09-04 v2 Statistics Theory Populations and Evolution Quantitative Methods Statistics Theory

Abstract

We prove that the probability substitution matrices obtained from a continuous-time Markov chain form a multiplicatively closed set if and only if the rate matrices associated to the chain form a linear space spanning a Lie algebra. The key original contribution we make is to overcome an obstruction, due to the presence of inequalities that are unavoidable in the probabilistic application, that prevents free manipulation of terms in the Baker-Campbell-Haursdorff formula.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1704.01418,
  title  = {Multiplicatively closed Markov models must form Lie algebras},
  author = {Jeremy G Sumner},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1704.01418},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

v2: 6 pages. Minimality condition included in Property 0 to close gap in the proof of main result. To appear in the ANZIAM Journal

R2 v1 2026-06-22T19:08:32.795Z