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A decomposition theorem for infinite stochastic matrices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2016

Daniel P. Heyman*
Affiliation:
Bellcore
*
Postal address: Bellcore, Room 3D-308, 331 Newman Springs Road, Red Bank, NJ 0771–7020, USA.

Abstract

We prove that every infinite-state stochastic matrix P say, that is irreducible and consists of positive-recurrrent states can be represented in the form I – P=(AI)(BS), where A is strictly upper-triangular, B is strictly lower-triangular, and S is diagonal. Moreover, the elements of A are expected values of random variables that we will specify, and the elements of B and S are probabilities of events that we will specify. The decomposition can be used to obtain steady-state probabilities, mean first-passage-times and the fundamental matrix.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1995 

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