Markov Integrated Semigroups and their Applications to Continuous-Time Markov Chains

A Markov integrated semigroup G(t) is by definition a weaklystar differentiable and increasing contraction integrated semigroup on l _∞. We obtain a generation theorem for such semigroups and find that they are not integrated C ₀-semigroups unless the generators are bounded. To link up with the continuous-time Markov chains (CTMCs), we show that there exists a one-to-one relationship between Markov integrated semigroups and transition functions. This gives a clear probability explanation of G(t): it is just the mean transition time, and allows us to define and to investigate its q-matrix. For a given q-matrix Q, we give a criterion for the minimal Q-function to be a Feller-Reuter-Riley (FRR) transition function, this criterion gives an answer to a long-time question raised by Reuter and Riley (1972). This research was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2005038326).