In this paper, for $α\in (1, 2}$ we show that the $α$-stable continuous-state branching process and the associated process conditioned never to become extinct are positive self-similar Markov processes. Understanding the interaction of the Lamperti transformation for continuous-state branching processes and the Lamperti transformation for positive self-similar Markov processes permits accessto a number of explicit results concerning the paths of stable-continuous branching processes and its conditioned version.
We study the distribution of the maximal jump of continuous-state branching processes. Several exact expressions and explicit asymptotics of both the local maximal jump and the global maximal jump are obtained. We also compare the distribution of the maximal jump and the Lévy measure to get several absolute continuity results. Then we study local convergence of continuous-state branching processes under various conditionings. We obtain complete results under the conditioning of large maximal jump, and partial results under two other conditionings, which are, the conditioning of large width, an…
We extend earlier results on conditioning of super-Brownian motion to general branching rules. We obtain representations of the conditioned process, both as an $h$-transform, and as an unconditioned superprocess with immigration along a branching tree. Unlike the finite-variance branching setting, these trees are no longer binary, and strictly positive mass can be created at branch points. This construction is singular in the case of stable branching. We analyze this singularity first by approaching the stable branching function via analytic approximations. In this context the singularity of t…
We study the local convergence of critical Galton-Watson trees and Levy trees under various conditionings. Assuming a very general monotonicity property on the functional of random trees, we show that random trees conditioned to have large functional values always converge locally to immortal trees. We also derive a very general ratio limit property for functionals of random trees satisfying the monotonicity property. Then we move on to study the local convergence of critical continuous-state branching processes, and prove a similar result. Finally we give a definition of continuum condensatio…
The Horton and Tokunaga branching laws provide a convenient framework for studying self-similarity in random trees. The Horton self-similarity is a weaker property that addresses the principal branching in a tree; it is a counterpart of the power-law size distribution for elements of a branching system. The stronger Tokunaga self-similarity addresses so-called side branching. The Horton and Tokunaga self-similarity have been empirically established in numerous observed and modeled systems, and proven for two paradigmatic models: the critical Galton-Watson branching process with finite progeny …
It is well known that a simple, supercritical Bienaymé-Galton-Watson process turns into a subcritical such process, if conditioned to die out. We prove that the corresponding holds true for general, multi-type branching, where child-bearing may occur at different ages, life span may depend upon reproduction, and the whole course of events is thus affected by conditioning upon extinction.
We consider a birth and death process in which death is due to both `natural death' and to competition between individuals, modelled as a quadratic function of population size. The resulting `logistic branching process' has been proposed as a model for numbers of individuals in populations competing for some resource, or for numbers of species. However, because of the quadratic death rate, even if the intrinsic growth rate is positive, the population will, with probability one, die out in finite time. There is considerable interest in understanding the process conditioned on non-extinction. In…
We introduce several martingale changes of measure of the law of the exit measure of super Brownian motion. These changes of measure include and generalize one arising by conditioning the exit measures to charge a point on the boun dary of a 2-dimensional domain. In the case we discuss this is a non-degenerate conditioning. We give characterizations of the new processes in terms of "immortal particle" branching processes with immigration of mass, and give application s to the study of solutions to Lu = cu^2 in D. The representations are related to those in an earlier paper, which treated the c…
Conditioning a branching Brownian motion to have an atypically low maximum leads to a suppression of the branching mechanism. In this note, we consider a branching Brownian motion conditioned to have a maximum below $\sqrt{2}αt$ ($α<1$). We study the precise effects of an early/late first branching time and a low/high first branching location under this condition. We do so by imposing additional constraints on the first branching time and location. We obtain large deviation estimates, as well as the optimal first branching time and location given the additional constraints.
It is well understood that a supercritical continuous-state branching process (CSBP) is equal in law to a discrete continuous-time Galton Watson process (the skeleton of prolific individuals) whose edges are dressed in a Poissonian way with immigration which initiates subcritial CSBPs (non-prolific mass). Equally well understood in the setting of CSBPs and super-processes is the notion of a spine or immortal particle dressed in a Poissonian way with immigration which initiates copies of the original CSBP, which emerges when conditioning the process to survive eternally. In this article, we rev…
Conditioning a multitype Galton-Watson process to stay alive into the indefinite future leads to what is known as its associated $Q$-process. We show that the same holds true if the process is conditioned to reach a positive threshold or a non-absorbing state. We also demonstrate that the stationary measure of the $Q$-process, obtained by construction as two successive limits (first by delaying the extinction in the original process and next by considering the long-time behavior of the obtained $Q$-process), is as a matter of fact a double limit. Finally, we prove that conditioning a multitype…
The genealogical structure of self-similar growth-fragmentations can be described in terms of a branching random walk. The so-called intrinsic area $\mathrm{A}$ arises in this setting as the terminal value of a remarkable additive martingale. Motivated by connections with some models of random planar geometry, the purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of conditioning a self-similar growth-fragmentation on its intrinsic area. The distribution of $\mathrm{A}$ satisfies a useful smoothing transform which enables us to establish the existence of a regular density $a$ and to determine t…
Representations of branching Markov processes and their measure-valued limits in terms of countable systems of particles are constructed for models with spatially varying birth and death rates. Each particle has a location and a "level," but unlike earlier constructions, the levels change with time. In fact, death of a particle occurs only when the level of the particle crosses a specified level $r$, or for the limiting models, hits infinity. For branching Markov processes, at each time $t$, conditioned on the state of the process, the levels are independent and uniformly distributed on $[0,r]…
For a subcritical Galton-Watson process $(ζ_n)$, it is well known that under an $X \log X$ condition, the quotient $P(ζ_n > 0)/ Eζ_n$ has a finite positive limit. There is an analogous result for a (one-dimensional) supercritical branching random walk: when $a$ is in the so-called subcritical speed area, the probability of presence around $na$ in the $n$-th generation is asymptotically proportional to the corresponding expectation. In Rouault (1993) this result was stated under a natural $X \log X$ assumption on the offspring point process and a (unnatural) condition on the offspring mean. Her…
The Tokunaga condition is an algebraic rule that provides a detailed description of the branching structure in a self-similar tree. Despite a solid empirical validation and practical convenience, the Tokunaga condition lacks a theoretical justification. Such a justification is suggested in this work. We define a geometric branching processes $\mathcal{G}(s)$ that generates self-similar rooted trees. The main result establishes the equivalence between the invariance of $\mathcal{G}(s)$ with respect to a time shift and a one-parametric version of the Tokunaga condition. In the parameter region w…
We study self-similarity in random binary rooted trees. In a well-understood case of Galton-Watson trees, a distribution on a space of trees is said to be self-similar if it is invariant with respect to the operation of pruning, which cuts the tree leaves. This only happens for the critical Galton-Watson tree (a constant process progeny), which also exhibits other special symmetries. We extend the prune-invariance setup to arbitrary binary trees with edge lengths. In this general case the class of self-similar processes becomes much richer and covers a variety of practically important situatio…
We investigate the well-posedness and asymptotic self-similarity of solutions to a generalized Smoluchowski coagulation equation recently introduced by Bertoin and Le Gall in the context of continuous-state branching theory. In particular, this equation governs the evolution of the Lévy measure of a critical continuous-state branching process which becomes extinct (i.e., is absorbed at zero) almost surely. We show that a nondegenerate scaling limit of the Lévy measure (and the process) exists if and only if the branching mechanism is regularly varying at 0. When the branching mechanism is regu…
The basic object we consider is a certain model of continuum random tree, called the stable tree. We construct a fragmentation process $(F^-(t), t>=0)$ out of this tree by removing the vertices located under height $t$. Thanks to a self-similarity property of the stable tree, we show that the fragmentation process is also self-similar. The semigroup and other features of the fragmentation are given explicitly. Asymptotic results are given, as well as a couple of related results on continuous-state branching processes.
Consider compound Poisson processes with negative drift and no negative jumps, which converge to some spectrally positive Lévy process with non-zero Lévy measure. In this paper we study the asymptotic behavior of the local time process, in the spatial variable, of these processes killed at two different random times: either at the time of the first visit of the Lévy process to 0, in which case we prove results at the excursion level under suitable conditionings; or at the time when the local time at 0 exceeds some fixed level. We prove that finite-dimensional distributions converge under gener…
The Horton laws originated in hydrology with a 1945 paper by Robert E. Horton, and for a long time remained a purely empirical finding. Ubiquitous in hierarchical branching systems, the Horton laws have been rediscovered in many disciplines ranging from geomorphology to genetics to computer science. Attempts to build a mathematical foundation behind the Horton laws during the 1990s revealed their close connection to the operation of pruning -- erasing a tree from the leaves down to the root. This survey synthesizes recent results on invariances and self-similarities of tree measures under vari…
