Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ib/paper-2/20h/b/solution

Starting at zero, the next renewal is at time , and there are no intervening renewals because . Thus the first return time obeys in distribution, indeed under the original renewal construction. Its mean recurrence time is
The chain returns to zero almost surely and has a finite expected return time, so zero is a positive recurrent state. The assumption is what upgrades recurrence to positive recurrence.

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