This article considers a model of genealogy corresponding to a regular exchangeable coalescent (also known as Xi-coalescent) started from a large finite configuration, and undergoing neutral mutations. Asymptotic expressions for the number of active lineages were obtained by the author in a previous work. Analogous results for the number of active mutation-free lineages and the combined lineage lengths are derived using the same martingale-based technique. They are given in terms of convergence in probability, while extensions to convergence in moments and convergence almost surely are discussed. The above mentioned results have direct consequences on the sampling theory in the Xi-coalescent setting. In particular, the regular Xi-coalescents that come down from infinity (i.e., with locally finite genealogies), have an asymptotically equal number of families under the corresponding infinite alleles and infinite sites models. In special cases, quantitative asymptotic formulae for the number of families that contain a fixed number of individuals can be given.
We review recent progress in the understanding of the role of multiple- and simultaneous multiple merger coalescents as models for the genealogy in idealised and real populations with exceptional reproductive behaviour. In particular, we discuss models with `skewed offspring distribution' (or under other non-classical evolutionary forces) which lead in the single locus haploid case to multiple merger coalescents, and in the multi-locus diploid case to simultaneous multiple merger coalescents. Further, we discuss inference methods under the infinitely-many sites model which allow both model sel…
Trees corresponding to $Λ$- and $Ξ$-$n$-coalescents can be both quite similar and fundamentally different compared to bifurcating tree models based on Kingman's $n$-coalescent. This has consequences for inference of a well-fitting gene genealogy as well as for assessing biological properties of species having such sample genealogies. Here, mathematical properties concerning clade sizes in the tree as well as changes of the tree when the samples are enlargened are highlighted. To be used as realistic genealogy models for real populations, an extension for changing population sizes is discussed.
For $Λ$-$n$-coalescents with mutation, we analyse the size $O_n$ of the partition block of $i\in\{1,\ldots,n\}$ at the time where the first mutation appears on the tree that affects $i$ and is shared with any other $j\in\{1,\ldots,n\}$. We provide asymptotics of $O_n$ for $n\to\infty$ and a recursion for all moments of $O_n$ for finite $n$. This variable gives an upper bound for the minimal clade size [2], which is not observable in real data. In applications to genetics, it has been shown to be useful to lower classification errors in genealogical model selection [10].
We consider diploid bi-parental analogues of Cannings models: in a population of fixed size $N$ the next generation is composed of $V_{i,j}$ offspring from parents $i$ and $j$, where $V=(V_{i,j})_{1\le i\neq j \le N}$ is a (jointly) exchangeable (symmetric) array. Every individual carries two chromosome copies, each of which is inherited from one of its parents. We obtain general conditions, formulated in terms of the vector of the total number of offspring to each individual, for the convergence of the properly scaled ancestral process for an $n$-sample of genes towards a ($Ξ$-)coalescent. Th…
We give a de Finetti type representation for exchangeable random coalescent trees (formally described as semi-ultrametrics) in terms of sampling iid sequences from marked metric measure spaces. We apply this representation to define versions of tree-valued Fleming-Viot processes from a $Ξ$-lookdown model. As state spaces for these processes, we use, besides the space of isomorphy classes of metric measure spaces, also the space of isomorphy classes of marked metric measure spaces and a space of distance matrix distributions. This allows to include the case with dust in which the genealogical t…
Kingman (1978)'s representation theorem states that any exchangeable partition of $\mathbb{N}$ can be represented as a paintbox based on a random mass-partition. Similarly, any exchangeable composition (i.e. ordered partition of $\mathbb{N}$) can be represented as a paintbox based on an interval-partition (Gnedin 1997). Our first main result is that any exchangeable coalescent process (not necessarily Markovian) can be represented as a paintbox based on a random non-decreasing process valued in interval-partitions, called nested interval-partition, generalizing the notion of comb metric space …
We present simple conditions under which the limiting genealogical process associated with a class of interacting particle systems with non-neutral selection mechanisms, as the number of particles grows, is a time-rescaled Kingman coalescent. Sequential Monte Carlo algorithms are popular methods for approximating integrals in problems such as non-linear filtering and smoothing which employ this type of particle system. Their performance depends strongly on the properties of the induced genealogical process. We verify the conditions of our main result for standard sequential Monte Carlo algorit…
The block counting process with initial state $n$ counts the number of blocks of an exchangeable coalescent ($Ξ$-coalescent) restricted to a sample of size $n$. This work provides scaling limits for the block counting process of regular $Ξ$-coalescents that stay infinite, including $Ξ$-coalescents with dust and a large class of dust-free $Ξ$-coalescents. The main convergence result states that the block counting process, properly logarithmically scaled, converges in the Skorohod space to an Ornstein--Uhlenbeck type process as $n$ tends to infinity. The existence of such a scaling depends on a …
We consider the exchangeable fragmentation-coagulation (EFC) processes, where the coagulations are multiple and not simultaneous, as in a $Λ$-coalescent, and the fragmentations dislocate at finite rate an individual block into sub-blocks of infinite size. Sufficient conditions are found for the block-counting process to explode (i.e. to reach $\infty$) or not and for infinity to be an exit boundary or an entrance boundary. In a case of regularly varying fragmentation and coagulation mechanisms, we find regimes where the boundary $\infty$ can be either an exit, an entrance or a regular boundary…
Consider a continuous-state branching population constructed as a flow of nested subordinators. Inverting the subordinators and reversing time give rise to a flow of coalescing Markov processes (with negative jumps) which correspond to the ancestral lineages of individuals in the current generation. The process of the ancestral lineage of a fixed individual is the Siegmund dual process of the continuous-state branching process. We study its semi-group, its long-term behavior and its generator. In order to follow the coalescences in the ancestral lineages and to describe the backward genealogy …
