arXiv subjects

Anita Winter

Publications and source records attributed to Anita Winter.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Brownian motion on R trees

The real trees form a class of metric spaces that extends the class of trees with edge lengths by allowing behavior such as infinite total edge length and vertices with infinite branching degree. We use Dirichlet form methods to construct Brownian motion on any given locally compact $R$-tree {$(T,r)$} equipped with a Radon measure $ν$ {on $(T,{\mathcal B}(T))$}. We specify a criterion under which the Brownian motion is recurrent or transient. For compact recurrent $R$-trees we provide bounds on the mixing time. In this revised version, assumption (A3) for an $R$-tree has been removed.

math.PR↗

arXiv2011

Tree-valued resampling dynamics: Martingale Problems and applications

The measure-valued Fleming-Viot process is a diffusion which models the evolution of allele frequencies in a multi-type population. In the neutral setting the Kingman coalescent is known to generate the genealogies of the "individuals" in the population at a fixed time. The goal of the present paper is to replace this static point of view on the genealogies by an analysis of the evolution of genealogies. We encode the genealogy of the population as an (isometry class of an) ultra-metric space which is equipped with a probability measure. The space of ultra-metric measure spaces together with the Gromov-weak topology serves as state space for tree-valued processes. We use well-posed martingale problems to construct the tree-valued resampling dynamics of the evolving genealogies for both the finite population Moran model and the infinite population Fleming-Viot diffusion. We show that sufficient information about any ultra-metric measure space is contained in the distribution of the vector of subtree lengths obtained by sequentially sampled "individuals". We give explicit formulas for the evolution of the Laplace transform of the distribution of finite subtrees under the tree-valued Fleming-Viot dynamics.

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Coalescent processes arising in a study of diffusive clustering

This paper studies the spatial coalescent on $\Z^2$. In our setting, the partition elements are located at the sites of $\Z^2$ and undergo local delayed coalescence and migration. That is, pairs of partition elements located at the same site coalesce into one partition element after exponential waiting times. In addition, the partition elements perform independent random walks. The system starts in either locally finite configurations or in configurations containing countably many partition elements per site. These two situations are relevant if the coalescent is used to study the scaling limits for genealogies in Moran models respectively interacting Fisher-Wright diffusions (or Fleming-Viot processes), which is the key application of the present work. Our goal is to determine the longtime behavior with an initial population of countably many individuals per site restricted to a box $[-t^{α/2}, t^{α/2}]^2 \cap \Z^2$ and observed at time $t^β$ with $1 \geq β\geq α\ge 0$. We study both asymptotics, as $t\to\infty$, for a fixed value of $α$ as the parameter $β\in[α,1]$ varies, and for a fixed $β$, as the parameter $α\in [0,β]$ varies. This exhibits the genealogical structure of the mono-type clusters arising in 2-dimensional Moran and Fisher-Wright systems. (... for more see the actual preprint)

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Genealogy of catalytic branching models

We consider catalytic branching populations. They consist of a catalyst population evolving according to a critical binary branching process in continuous time with a constant branching rate and a reactant population with a branching rate proportional to the number of catalyst individuals alive. The reactant forms a process in random medium. We describe asymptotically the genealogy of catalytic branching populations coded as the induced forest of $\mathbb{R}$-trees using the many individuals--rapid branching continuum limit. The limiting continuum genealogical forests are then studied in detail from both the quenched and annealed points of view. The result is obtained by constructing a contour process and analyzing the appropriately rescaled version and its limit. The genealogy of the limiting forest is described by a point process. We compare geometric properties and statistics of the reactant limit forest with those of the "classical" forest.

math.PR↗

arXiv2008

Convergence in distribution of random metric measure spaces: (Lambda-coalescent measure trees)

We consider the space of complete and separable metric spaces which are equipped with a probability measure. A notion of convergence is given based on the philosophy that a sequence of metric measure spaces converges if and only if all finite subspaces sampled from these spaces converge. This topology is metrized following Gromov's idea of embedding two metric spaces isometrically into a common metric space combined with the Prohorov metric between probability measures on a fixed metric space. We show that for this topology convergence in distribution follows - provided the sequence is tight - from convergence of all randomly sampled finite subspaces. We give a characterization of tightness based on quantities which are reasonably easy to calculate. Subspaces of particular interest are the space of real trees and of ultra-metric spaces equipped with a probability measure. As an example we characterize convergence in distribution for the (ultra-)metric measure spaces given by the random genealogies of the Lambda-coalescents. We show that the Lambda-coalescent defines an infinite (random) metric measure space if and only if the so-called "dust-free"-property holds.

math.PR↗

arXiv2006

Subtree prune and regraft: a reversible real tree-valued Markov process

We use Dirichlet form methods to construct and analyze a reversible Markov process, the stationary distribution of which is the Brownian continuum random tree. This process is inspired by the subtree prune and regraft (SPR) Markov chains that appear in phylogenetic analysis. A key technical ingredient in this work is the use of a novel Gromov--Hausdorff type distance to metrize the space whose elements are compact real trees equipped with a probability measure. Also, the investigation of the Dirichlet form hinges on a new path decomposition of the Brownian excursion.

math.PR↗

arXiv2004

Rayleigh processes, real trees, and root growth with re-grafting

The real trees form a class of metric spaces that extends the class of trees with edge lengths by allowing behavior such as infinite total edge length and vertices with infinite branching degree. Aldous's Brownian continuum random tree, the random tree-like object naturally associated with a standard Brownian excursion, may be thought of as a random compact real tree. The continuum random tree is a scaling limit as N tends to infinity of both a critical Galton-Watson tree conditioned to have total population size N as well as a uniform random rooted combinatorial tree with N vertices. The Aldous--Broder algorithm is a Markov chain on the space of rooted combinatorial trees with N vertices that has the uniform tree as its stationary distribution. We construct and study a Markov process on the space of all rooted compact real trees that has the continuum random tree as its stationary distribution and arises as the scaling limit as N tends to infinity of the Aldous--Broder chain. A key technical ingredient in this work is the use of a pointed Gromov--Hausdorff distance to metrize the space of rooted compact real trees.

math.PR↗