Limiting Distributions for Multitype Branching Processes

In this article, the asymptotic behavior of multitype Markov branching processes with discrete or continuous time is investigated in the positive regular and nonsingular case when both the initial number of ancestors and the time tend to infinity. Some limiting distributions are obtained as well as multivariate asymptotic normality is proved. The article also considers the relative frequencies of distinct types of individuals motivated by applications in the field of cell biology. We obtained non-random limits for the frequencies and multivariate asymptotic normality when the initial number of ancestors is large and the time of observation increases to infinity. In fact this paper continues the investigations of Yakovlev and Yanev [32 Yakovlev , A.Y. , and Yanev , N.M. 2009 . Relative frequencies in multitype branching processes . Annals of Applied Probability 19 ( 1 ): 1 – 14 . [Google Scholar]] where the time was fixed. The new obtained limiting results are of special interest for cell kinetics studies where the relative frequencies but not the absolute cell counts are accessible to measurement.