Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/ia/paper-2/11f/a/solution

Conditional on , the next generation is the sum of independent offspring counts, each with probability generating function . Hence
This also holds for , when the empty sum is zero and the empty product is one. The law of total expectation gives
For complex , the expectations are absolutely bounded because . This proves the branching-process generating-function iteration, with .

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