Exponential quasi-ergodicity for processes with discontinuous trajectories

Abstract

This paper tackles the issue of establishing a lower-bound on the asymptotic ratio of survival probabilities between two different initial conditions, asymptotically in time for a given Markov process with extinction. Such a comparison is a crucial step in recent techniques for proving exponential convergence to a quasi-stationary distribution. We introduce a weak form of the Harnack inequality as the essential ingredient for such a comparison. This property is actually a consequence of the convergence property we intend to prove. Its complexity appears as the price to pay for the level of flexibility required by our applications. We show in our illustrations how simply and efficiently it can be used nonetheless. As illustrations, we consider two continuous-time processes on R^d that do not satisfy the classical Harnack inequalities, even in a local version. The first one is a piecewise deterministic process while the second is a pure jump process with restrictions on the directions of its jumps.