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arXiv · 1307.6692

A General Formula for the Generation Time

François Bienvenu·Lloyd Demetrius·Stéphane Legendre
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Abstract

We show that the generation time -- a notion usually described in a biological context -- can be defined in a general way as a return time in a conveniently constructed finite Markov chain. The simple formula we obtain agrees with previous results derived for structured populations projected in discrete time, and allows to define the generation time of any process described by a weighted directed graph whose matrix is primitive.

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François Bienvenu, Lloyd Demetrius, Stéphane Legendre. 2013-10-07. A General Formula for the Generation Time. https://doi.org/10.1086/681104

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