In this study, we characterize the equilibrium behavior of spatial migration processes that represent population migrations, or birth-death processes, in general spaces. These processes are reversible Markov jump processes on measure spaces. As a precursor, we present fundamental properties of reversible Markov jump processes on general spaces. A major result is a canonical formula for the stationary distribution of a reversible process. This involves the characterization of two-way communication in transitions, using certain Radon-Nikodým derivatives. Other results concern a Kolmogorov criterion for reversibility, time reversibility, and several methods of constructing or identifying reversible processes.

The paper considers a random sample of r chromosomes, each having n genes subject to intrachromosomal gene conversion, and mutation. The probability distribution and moments for the number of alleles present is investigated, when the number, k, of possible alleles at each locus, is either finite or infinite. Explicit formulas are given for the mean numbers of alleles on r = 1, 2, or 3 chromosomes, which simplify previously known results. For fixed r, in the infinitely-many-alleles case, the mean number increases asymptotically like r θ log (n) as n→∞, where θ is a mutation parameter. But results for large samples remain elusive.