Sums of Lifetimes in Age Dependent Branching Processes

Abstract

Consider a Bellman-Harris [1] age dependent branching process. At t = 0, a cell is born, has lifetime distribution function G(t), G(0) = 0, assumed to be absolutely continuous with density g(t). At the death of the cell, k new cells are born, each proceeding independently and identically as the parent cell, and independent of past history. Denote by h(s) = Σ k=0 ∞ pk s k and suppose h(1) ≡ m, and assume h”(1) < ∞. Additional assumptions will be added as required.