UVic Dynamics and Probability Seminar: Neha Bansal

Reproductive value is the relative expected number of off-springs produced by an individual in its remaining lifetime. It is also an invariant function for population processes with birth and death rates independent of the time except in cases when they are periodic. In this study, we prove that the limiting ratio of the survival probability of two branching processes starting from distinct state-time positions is equal to the relative reproductive value. Moreover, we developed a method to obtain the reproductive value for continuous time general branching population models with state-dependent rates and a renewal state. We are using size-biased birth rates for constructing the spinal representation of the branching process, which establishes the relation between survival probability and the Martingale of the process. Further, we provide sufficient conditions for a successful coupling to compare the survival probabilities of two branching population models.