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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/iii/paper-45/4/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 45 4 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the infinite sites mutation model, mutations occur as independent Poisson processes at rate per lineage per unit of the coalescent time used in part (a). Conditional on the genealogy, superposition over branches gives a Poisson distribution with mean . Since this depends only on , conditioning on total length alone givesEach mutation occurs at a new site and below the common ancestor, so it contributes exactly one segregating site. The law of iterated expectation therefore gives, with ,Here is fixed when taking the expectation. If it is also random under a proper prior with finite mean, the unconditional expectation is .
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