Skip to main content

A Special Family of Galton-Watson Processes with Explosions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Branching Processes and Their Applications

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Statistics ((LNSP,volume 219))

Abstract

The linear-fractional Galton-Watson processes is a well known case when many characteristics of a branching process can be computed explicitly. In this paper we extend the two-parameter linear-fractional family to a much richer four-parameter family of reproduction laws. The corresponding Galton-Watson processes also allow for explicit calculations, now with possibility for infinite mean, or even infinite number of offspring. We study the properties of this special family of branching processes, and show, in particular, that in some explosive cases the time to explosion can be approximated by the Gumbel distribution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Athreya, K.B., Ney, P.E.: Branching Processes. Springer, Berlin (1972)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Harris, T.E.: The Theory of Branching Processes. Springer, Berlin (1963)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Klebaner, F., Rösler, U., Sagitov, S.: Transformations of Galton-Watson processes and linear fractional reproduction. Adv. Appl. Probab. 39, 1036–1053 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Lagerås, A.N., Martin-Löf, A.: Genealogy for supercritical branching processes. J. Appl. Probab. 43 (4), 1066–1076 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Sagitov, S.: Linear-fractional branching processes with countably many types. Stoch. Process. Appl. 123, 2940–2956 (2013)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Sagitov, S.: Tail generating functions for extendable branching processes. Preprint arXiv: 1511.05407 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sagitov, S., Serra, M.C.: Multitype Bienayme-Galton-Watson processes escaping extinction. Adv. Appl. Probab. 41, 225–246 (2009)

    MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Sevastianov, B.A.: Branching Processes. Nauka, Moscow (1971) (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Tokarev, D.: Galton-Watson processes and extinction in population systems. Ph.D. thesis, Monash University (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Zolotarev, V.M.: More exact statements of several theorems in the theory of branching processes. Theory Prob. Appl. 2, 245–253 (1957)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council grant 621-2010-5623.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Serik Sagitov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sagitov, S., Lindo, A. (2016). A Special Family of Galton-Watson Processes with Explosions. In: del Puerto, I., et al. Branching Processes and Their Applications. Lecture Notes in Statistics(), vol 219. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31641-3_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics