Properties of the conditional hazard rates of X1, · ··, Xn and Y1, · ··, Yn, which imply (X1, · ··, Xn) (Y1, · ··, Yn), are found. These are used to find conditions on the hazard rates of T = (T1, · ··, Tn) which ensure that T has the MIHR | property of Arjas (1981a) and the ‘weakened by failure’ property of Arjas and Norros (1984). Applications for load-sharing model and multivariate imperfect repair are given.

We model a selection process arising in certain storage problems. A sequence (X1, · ··, Xn) of non-negative, independent and identically distributed random variables is given. F(x) denotes the common distribution of the Xi′s. With F(x) given we seek a decision rule for selecting a maximum number of the Xi′s subject to the following constraints: (1) the sum of the elements selected must not exceed a given constant c > 0, and (2) the Xi′s must be inspected in strict sequence with the decision to accept or reject an element being final at the time it is inspected.

We prove first that there exists such a rule of threshold type, i.e. the ith element inspected is accepted if and only if it is no larger than a threshold which depends only on i and the sum of the elements already accepted. Next, we prove that if F(x) ~ Axα as x → 0 for some A, α> 0, then for fixed c the expected number, En(c), selected by an optimal threshold is characterized by Asymptotics as c → ∞and n → ∞with c/n held fixed are derived, and connections with several closely related, well-known problems are brought out and discussed.

The equilibrium rate rY of a random variable Y with support on non-negative integers is defined by rY(0) = 0 and rY(n) = P[Y = n – 1]/P[Y – n], Let (j = 1, …, m; i = 1,2) be 2m independent random variables that have proportional equilibrium rates with (j = 1, …, m; i = 1, 2) as the constant of proportionality. When the equilibrium rate is increasing and concave [convex] it is shown that , …, ) majorizes implies , …, for all increasing Schur-convex [concave] functions whenever the expectations exist. In addition if , (i = 1, 2), then

The paper presents problems, methods and results concerned with the stochastic modelling of fatigue damage of materials. First, the physical and engineering origins of the fatigue phenomenon are briefly outlined. After that, the main existing approaches to random fatigue problems and the models proposed are described in such a way as to show their mathematical structure and usefulness for engineering practice.

For m infinite-server queues with Poisson input which are connected in a series, a simple proof is given of a formula derived in [3] for the generating function of the joint customer-stationary distribution of the successive numbers of customers a randomly chosen customer finds at his arrival epochs at two queues of the system. In this connection, a shot-noise representation of the queue-length characteristics under consideration is used. Moreover, using this representation, corresonding asymptotic formulas are derived for infinite-server tandem queues with general high-density renewal input.

The family of distributions which have the lack-of-memory property is extended by incorporating simple patterns of ageing in the model. Some relatively simple multivariate distributions, obtained in this manner, might prove to be more realistic than distributions like the multivariate exponential.

Let Z1, …, Zn be i.i.d. random vectors (‘points') defined in having common density f(x) that is assumed to be continuous almost everywhere. For a fixed but otherwise arbitrary norm |.| on , consider the fraction Vn of those points Z1, …, Zn that are the lth nearest neighbour (with respect to |.|) to their own kth nearest neighbour, and write Sn for the fraction of points that are the nearest neighbour of exactly k other points. We derive the stochastic limits of Vn and Sn, as n tends to∞, and show how the results may be applied to the multivariate non-parametric two-sample problem.

We prove strong approximations for partial sums indexed by a renewal process. The obtained results are optimal. The established probability inequalities are also used to get bounds for the rate of convergence of some limit theorems in queueing theory.

This paper is concerned with the shape-density for a random triangle whose vertices are randomly labelled and i.i.d.-uniform in a compact convex polygon K. In earlier work we have already shown that there is a network of curves (the singular tessellation T(K)) across which suffers discontinuities of form. In two papers which will appear in parallel with this, Hui-lin Le finds explicit formulae for (i) the form of within the basic tile T0 of T(K), and (ii) the jump-functions which link the local forms of on either side of any curve separating two tiles. Here we exploit these calculations to find in the most general case. We describe the geometry of T(K), we examine the real-analytic structure of within a tile, and we establish by analytic continuation an explicit formula giving in an arbitrary tile T as the sum of the basic-tile function and the members of a finite sequence of jump-functions along a ‘stepping-stone' tile-to-tile route from T0 to T. Finally we comment on some of the problems that arise in the use of this formula in studies relating to the applications in archaeology and astronomy.

Capacity expansion is the process of providing new facilities over time to meet rising demand. A general mathematical model of this process is presented, incorporating uncertain future demand (including the possibility of ‘surprises’), non-zero lead times and random cost overruns. In this model the decision maker controls the rate of investment in the current expansion project. Optimization is studied by methods of stochastic control theory. Numerical algorithms are presented which determine the optimal policy in some simple cases.

A closed queueing system has Q service channels and a waiting line. There are Ni customers of type i in the system, i = 1, ···, m, ∑mi=1Ni = N > Q. Q customers are served and Q0 = N – Q stay in the waiting line. Q channels are partitioned into n groups with Qj channels in the jth group, j = 1, ···, n. The service time of the ith type customer by a channel of the jth group is τij ~ Exp (λij). When a customer leaves the channel, it is immediately replaced by another one picked up randomly from the waiting time. The customer which has cleared service joins the waiting line without delay. Let Xij be the number of ith type customers served by jth group channels in equilibrium. An explicit formula for P(Xij = kij, i = 1, ···, m; j = 1, ···, n) is found. It is shown in a form of a local limit theorem that the asymptotic distribution of {Xij} is a multidimensional normal, if Qj/N and Qj/N have positive limits as N → ∞. Formulas for mean values and covariances are given. It turns out that the means of Xij and covariances between Xij and Xrk can be found, using an efficient iterative algorithm, from the deterministic version of the system. A numerical example demonstrates that the normal approximation is rather accurate.

In this paper we demonstrate how some characteristics of queues with the periodic Poisson arrivals can be approximated by the respective characteristics in queues with Markov modulated input. These Markov modulated queues were recently studied by Regterschot and de Smit (1984). The approximation theorems are given in terms of the weak convergence of some characteristics and their uniform integrability. The approximations are applicable for the following characteristics: mean workload, mean workload at the time of day, mean delay, mean queue size.

We determine the optimal inspection policy of a system subject to deterioration. The deterioration is assumed to be an increasing pure jump Markov process. The criteria used for optimality is the long-run average cost per unit of time.

We study the problem of scheduling n given jobs on m uniform processors to minimize expected makespan (maximum finishing time). Job execution times are not known in advance, but are known to be exponentially distributed, with identical rate parameters depending solely on the executing processor. For m = 2 and 3, we show that there exist optimal scheduling rules of a certain threshold type, and we show how the required thresholds can be easily determined. We conjecture that similar threshold rules suffice for m > 3 but are unable to prove this. However, for m > 3 we do obtain a general bound on problem size that permits Bellman equations to be used to construct an optimal scheduling rule for any given set of m rate parameters, with the memory required to represent that scheduling rule being independent of the number of remaining jobs.

Perturbation analysis is a new technique which yields the sensitivities of system performance measures with respect to parameters based on one sample path of a system. This paper provides some theoretical analysis for this method. A new notion, the realization probability of a perturbation in a closed queueing network, is studied. The elasticity of the expected throughput in a closed Jackson network with respect to the mean service times can be expressed in terms of the steady-state probabilities and realization probabilities in a very simple way. The elasticity of the throughput with respect to the mean service times when the service distributions are perturbed to non-exponential distributions can also be obtained using these realization probabilities. It is proved that the sample elasticity of the throughput obtained by perturbation analysis converges to the elasticity of the expected throughput in steady-state both in mean and with probability 1 as the number of customers served goes to This justifies the existing algorithms based on perturbation analysis which efficiently provide the estimates of elasticities in practice.

The number of returns to the origin for a simple random walk starting and ending at the origin is reconsidered; closed-form expressions in μ are given for μ3 and μ4.

We prove a monotonicity result for the problem of optimal service rate control in certain queueing networks. Consider, as an illustrative example, a number of ·/M/1 queues which are arranged in a cycle with some number of customers moving around the cycle. A holding cost hi(xi) is charged for each unit of time that queue i contains xi customers, with hi being convex. As a function of the queue lengths the service rate at each queue i is to be chosen in the interval , where cost ci(μ) is charged for each unit of time that the service rate μis in effect at queue i. It is shown that the policy which minimizes the expected total discounted cost has a monotone structure: namely, that by moving one customer from queue i to the following queue, the optimal service rate in queue i is not increased and the optimal service rates elsewhere are not decreased. We prove a similar result for problems of optimal arrival rate and service rate control in general queueing networks. The results are extended to an average-cost measure, and an example is included to show that in general the assumption of convex holding costs may not be relaxed. A further example shows that the optimal policy may not be monotone unless the choice of possible service rates at each queue includes 0.

We derive the Sobel–Uppuluri and Galambos-type extensions of the Bonferroni bounds, and further extensions of the same nature, as consequences of a single non-probabilistic inequality. The methodology follows that of Galambos.

If (non-overlapping) repeats of specified sequences of states in a Markov chain are considered, the result is a Markov renewal process. Formulae somewhat simpler than those given in Biggins and Cannings (1987) are derived which can be used to obtain the transition matrix and conditional mean sojourn times in this process.

In this paper we present a general model of the completion time of a single job on a computer system whose state changes according to a semi-Markov process with possibly infinite state-space. When the state of the system changes the job service is preempted. The job service is then resumed or restarted (with or without resampling) in the new state at, possibly, a different service rate. Different types of preemption disciplines are allowed in the model. Successive aggregation and transform techniques are used to obtain the Laplace–Stieltjes transform of the job completion time. We specialize to the case of Markovian structure-state process. We demonstrate the use of the techniques developed here by means of two applications. In the first we derive the distribution of the response time in an M/M/1 queueing system under the processor-sharing discipline (PS). In the second we derive the distribution of the completion time of a job when executed on a system subject to mixed types of breakdowns and repair.