arXiv subjects

Matthias Winkel

Publications and source records attributed to Matthias Winkel.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Diffusions on a space of interval partitions with Poisson-Dirichlet stationary distributions

We construct a pair of related diffusions on a space of interval partitions of the unit interval $[0,1]$ that are stationary with the Poisson-Dirichlet laws with parameters (1/2,0) and (1/2,1/2) respectively. These are two particular cases of a general construction of such processes obtained by decorating the jumps of a spectrally positive Lévy process with independent squared Bessel excursions. The processes of ranked interval lengths of our partitions are members of a two parameter family of diffusions introduced by Ethier and Kurtz (1981) and Petrov (2009). The latter diffusions are continuum limits of up-down Markov chains on Chinese restaurant processes. Our construction is also a step towards describing a diffusion on the space of real trees whose existence has been conjectured by Aldous.

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arXiv2016

A binary embedding of the stable line-breaking construction

We embed Duquesne and Le Gall's stable tree into a binary compact continuum random tree (CRT) in a way that solves an open problem posed by Goldschmidt and Haas. This CRT can be obtained by applying a recursive construction method of compact CRTs as presented in earlier work to a specific distribution of a random string of beads, i.e. a random interval equipped with a random discrete measure. We also express this CRT as a tree built by replacing all branch points of a stable tree by rescaled i.i.d. copies of a Ford CRT. Some of these developments are carried out in a space of infinity-marked metric spaces generalising Miermont's notion of a k-marked metric space.

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arXiv2016

Uniform control of local times of spectrally positive stable processes

We establish two results about local times of spectrally positive stable processes. The first is a general approximation result, uniform in space and on compact time intervals, in a model where each jump of the stable process may be marked by a random path. The second gives moment control on the Hölder constant of the local times, uniformly across a compact spatial interval and in certain random time intervals. For the latter, we introduce the notion of a Lévy process restricted to a compact interval, which is a variation of Lambert's Lévy process confined in a finite interval and of Pistorius' doubly reflected process. We use the results of this paper to exhibit a class of path-continuous branching processes of Crump-Mode-Jagers type with continuum genealogical structure. A further motivation for this study lies in the construction of diffusion processes in spaces of interval partitions and R-trees, which we explore in forthcoming articles.

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arXiv2016

Recursive construction of continuum random trees

We introduce a general recursive method to construct continuum random trees (CRTs) from independent copies of a random string of beads, that is, any random interval equipped with a random discrete probability measure, and from related structures. We prove the existence of these CRTs as a new application of the fixpoint method for recursive distribution equations formalised in high generality by Aldous and Bandyopadhyay. We apply this recursive method to show the convergence to CRTs of various tree growth processes. We note alternative constructions of existing self-similar CRTs in the sense of Haas, Miermont and Stephenson, and we give for the first time constructions of random compact R-trees that describe the genealogies of Bertoin's self-similar growth fragmentations. In forthcoming work, we develop further applications to embedding problems for CRTs, providing a binary embedding of the stable line-breaking construction that solves an open problem of Goldschmidt and Haas.

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arXiv2015

Regenerative tree growth: Markovian embedding of fragmenters, bifurcators, and bead splitting processes

Some, but not all processes of the form $M_t=\exp(-ξ_t)$ for a pure-jump subordinator $ξ$ with Laplace exponent $Φ$ arise as residual mass processes of particle 1 (tagged particle) in Bertoin's partition-valued exchangeable fragmentation processes. We introduce the notion of a Markovian embedding of $M=(M_t,t\ge 0)$ in a fragmentation process, and we show that for each $Φ$, there is a unique (in distribution) binary fragmentation process in which $M$ has a Markovian embedding. The identification of the Laplace exponent $Φ^*$ of its tagged particle process $M^*$ gives rise to a symmetrisation operation $Φ\mapstoΦ^*$, which we investigate in a general study of pairs $(M,M^*)$ that coincide up to a random time and then evolve independently. We call $M$ a fragmenter and $(M,M^*)$ a bifurcator. For $α>0$, we equip the interval $R_1=[0,\int_0^{\infty}M_t^α\,dt]$ with a purely atomic probability measure $μ_1$, which captures the jump sizes of $M$ suitably placed on $R_1$. We study binary tree growth processes that in the $n$th step sample an atom (``bead'') from $μ_n$ and build $(R_{n+1},μ_{n+1})$ by replacing the atom by a rescaled independent copy of $(R_1,μ_1)$ that we tie to the position of the atom. We show that any such bead splitting process $((R_n,μ_n),n\ge1)$ converges almost surely to an $α$-self-similar continuum random tree of Haas and Miermont, in the Gromov-Hausdorff-Prohorov sense. This generalises Aldous's line-breaking construction of the Brownian continuum random tree.

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arXiv2014

Invariance principles for pruning processes of Galton-Watson trees

Pruning processes $(\mathcal{F}(θ),θ\geq 0)$ have been studied separately for Galton-Watson trees and for Lévy trees/forests. We establish here a limit theory that strongly connects the two studies. This solves an open problem by Abraham and Delmas, also formulated as a conjecture by Löhr, Voisin and Winter. Specifically, we show that for any sequence of Galton-Watson forests $\mathcal{F}_n$, $n\geq 1$, in the domain of attraction of a Lévy forest $\mathcal{F}$, suitably scaled pruning processes $(\mathcal{F}_n(θ),θ\geq 0)$ converge in the Skorohod topology on cadlag functions with values in the space of (isometry classes of) locally compact real trees to limiting pruning processes. We separately treat pruning at branch points and pruning at edges. We apply our results to study ascension times and Kesten trees and forests.

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arXiv2013

Regenerative tree growth: structural results and convergence

We introduce regenerative tree growth processes as consistent families of random trees with n labelled leaves, n>=1, with a regenerative property at branch points. This framework includes growth processes for exchangeably labelled Markov branching trees, as well as non-exchangeable models such as the alpha-theta model, the alpha-gamma model and all restricted exchangeable models previously studied. Our main structural result is a representation of the growth rule by a sigma-finite dislocation measure kappa on the set of partitions of the natural numbers extending Bertoin's notion of exchangeable dislocation measures from the setting of homogeneous fragmentations. We use this representation to establish necessary and sufficient conditions on the growth rule under which we can apply results by Haas and Miermont for unlabelled and not necessarily consistent trees to establish self-similar random trees and residual mass processes as scaling limits. While previous studies exploited some form of exchangeability, our scaling limit results here only require a regularity condition on the convergence of asymptotic frequencies under kappa, in addition to a regular variation condition.

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arXiv2013

Spines, skeletons and the Strong Law of Large Numbers for superdiffusions

Consider a supercritical superdiffusion (X_t) on a domain D subset R^d with branching mechanism -β(x) z+α(x) z^2 + int_{(0,infty)} (e^{-yz}-1+yz) Pi(x,dy). The skeleton decomposition provides a pathwise description of the process in terms of immigration along a branching particle diffusion. We use this decomposition to derive the Strong Law of Large Numbers (SLLN) for a wide class of superdiffusions from the corresponding result for branching particle diffusions. That is, we show that for suitable test functions f and starting measures mu, < f,X_t>/P_{mu}[< f,X_t>] -> W_{infty}, P_{mu}-almost surely as t->infty, where W_{infty} is a finite, non-deterministic random variable characterised as a martingale limit. Our method is based on skeleton and spine techniques and offers structural insights into the driving force behind the SLLN for superdiffusions. The result covers many of the key examples of interest and, in particular, proves a conjecture by Fleischmann and Swart for the super-Wright-Fisher diffusion.

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arXiv2012

Restricted exchangeable partitions and embedding of associated hierarchies in continuum random trees

We introduce the notion of a restricted exchangeable partition of $\mathbb{N}$. We obtain integral representations, consider associated fragmentations, embeddings into continuum random trees and convergence to such limit trees. In particular, we deduce from the general theory developed here a limit result conjectured previously for Ford's alpha model and its extension, the alpha-gamma model, where restricted exchangeability arises naturally.

math.PR↗

arXiv2012

Hereditary tree growth and Levy forests

We introduce the notion of a hereditary property for rooted real trees and we also consider reduction of trees by a given hereditary property. Leaf-length erasure, also called trimming, is included as a special case of hereditary reduction. We only consider the metric structure of trees, and our framework is the space $\bT$ of pointed isometry classes of locally compact rooted real trees equipped with the Gromov-Hausdorff distance. Some of the main results of the paper are a general tightness criterion in $\bT$ and limit theorems for growing families of trees. We apply these results to Galton-Watson trees with exponentially distributed edge lengths. This class is preserved by hereditary reduction. Then we consider families of such Galton-Watson trees that are consistent under hereditary reduction and that we call growth processes. We prove that the associated families of offspring distributions are completely characterised by the branching mechanism of a continuous-state branching process. We also prove that such growth processes converge to Levy forests. As a by-product of this convergence, we obtain a characterisation of the laws of Levy forests in terms of leaf-length erasure and we obtain invariance principles for discrete Galton-Watson trees, including the super-critical cases.

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arXiv2010

Growth of Galton-Watson trees: immigration and lifetimes

We study certain consistent families $(F_λ)_{λ\ge 0}$ of Galton-Watson forests with lifetimes as edge lengths and/or immigrants as progenitors of the trees in $F_λ$. Specifically, consistency here refers to the property that for each $μ\leλ$, the forest $F_μ$ has the same distribution as the subforest of $F_λ$ spanned by the black leaves in a Bernoulli leaf colouring, where each leaf of $F_λ$ is coloured in black independently with probability $μ/λ$. The case of exponentially distributed lifetimes and no immigration was studied by Duquesne and Winkel and related to the genealogy of Markovian continuous-state branching processes. We characterise here such families in the framework of arbitrary lifetime distributions and immigration according to a renewal process, related to Sagitov's (non-Markovian) generalisation of continuous-state branching renewal processes, and similar processes with immigration.

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arXiv2010

Right inverses of Levy processes: the excursion measure in the general case

This article is about right inverses of Levy processes as first introduced by Evans in the symmetric case and later studied systematically by the present authors and their co-authors. Here we add to the existing fluctuation theory an explicit description of the excursion measure away from the (minimal) right inverse. This description unifies known formulas in the case of a positive Gaussian coefficient and in the bounded variation case. While these known formulas relate to excursions away from a point starting negative continuously, and excursions started by a jump, the present description is in terms of excursions away from the supremum continued up to a return time. In the unbounded variation case with zero Gaussian coefficient previously excluded, excursions start negative continuously, but the excursion measures away from the right inverse and away from a point are mutually singular. We also provide a new construction and a new formula for the Laplace exponent of the minimal right inverse.

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Regenerative tree growth: Binary self-similar continuum random trees and Poisson--Dirichlet compositions

We use a natural ordered extension of the Chinese Restaurant Process to grow a two-parameter family of binary self-similar continuum fragmentation trees. We provide an explicit embedding of Ford's sequence of alpha model trees in the continuum tree which we identified in a previous article as a distributional scaling limit of Ford's trees. In general, the Markov branching trees induced by the two-parameter growth rule are not sampling consistent, so the existence of compact limiting trees cannot be deduced from previous work on the sampling consistent case. We develop here a new approach to establish such limits, based on regenerative interval partitions and the urn-model description of sampling from Dirichlet random distributions.

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Spinal partitions and invariance under re-rooting of continuum random trees

We develop some theory of spinal decompositions of discrete and continuous fragmentation trees. Specifically, we consider a coarse and a fine spinal integer partition derived from spinal tree decompositions. We prove that for a two-parameter Poisson--Dirichlet family of continuous fragmentation trees, including the stable trees of Duquesne and Le Gall, the fine partition is obtained from the coarse one by shattering each of its parts independently, according to the same law. As a second application of spinal decompositions, we prove that among the continuous fragmentation trees, stable trees are the only ones whose distribution is invariant under uniform re-rooting.

math.PR↗

arXiv2008

Gibbs fragmentation trees

We study fragmentation trees of Gibbs type. In the binary case, we identify the most general Gibbs-type fragmentation tree with Aldous' beta-splitting model, which has an extended parameter range $β>-2$ with respect to the ${\rm beta}(β+1,β+1)$ probability distributions on which it is based. In the multifurcating case, we show that Gibbs fragmentation trees are associated with the two-parameter Poisson--Dirichlet models for exchangeable random partitions of $\mathbb {N}$, with an extended parameter range $0\leα\le1$, $θ\ge-2α$ and $α<0$, $θ=-mα$, $m\in \mathbb {N}$.

math.PR↗

arXiv2008

Continuum tree asymptotics of discrete fragmentations and applications to phylogenetic models

Given any regularly varying dislocation measure, we identify a natural self-similar fragmentation tree as scaling limit of discrete fragmentation trees with unit edge lengths. As an application, we obtain continuum random tree limits of Aldous's beta-splitting models and Ford's alpha models for phylogenetic trees. This confirms in a strong way that the whole trees grow at the same speed as the mean height of a randomly chosen leaf.

math.PR↗

arXiv2008

A new family of Markov branching trees: the alpha-gamma model

We introduce a simple tree growth process that gives rise to a new two-parameter family of discrete fragmentation trees that extends Ford's alpha model to multifurcating trees and includes the trees obtained by uniform sampling from Duquesne and Le Gall's stable continuum random tree. We call these new trees the alpha-gamma trees. In this paper, we obtain their splitting rules, dislocation measures both in ranked order and in sized-biased order, and we study their limiting behaviour.

math.PR↗

arXiv2006

SLE and alpha-SLE driven by Levy processes

Stochastic Loewner Evolutions (SLE) with a multiple sqrt(kappa)B of Brownian motion B as driving process are random planar curves (if kappa<=4) or growing compact sets generated by a curve (if kappa>4). We consider here more general Levy processes as driving processes and obtain evolutions expected to look like random trees or compact sets generated by trees, respectively. We show that when the driving force is of the form sqrt(kappa)B+theta^(1/alpha)S for a symmetric alpha-stable Levy process S, the cluster has zero or positive Lebesgue measure according to whether kappa<=4 or kappa>4. We also give mathematical evidence that a further phase transition at alpha=1 is attributable to the recurrence/transience dychotomy of the driving Levy process. We introduce a new class of evolutions that we call alpha-SLE. They have alpha-self-similarity properties for alpha-stable Levy driving processes. We show the phase transition at a critical coefficient theta=theta_0(alpha) analogous to the kappa=4 phase transition.

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