Total progeny with critical geometric offspring

ID: total-progeny-with-critical-geometric-offspring

Start a branching process with one ancestor and offspring distribution for . Its probability generating function is and its mean offspring count is , making it a critical branching process. Splitting the family at the ancestor gives the total progeny recursion . The probability generating function of an independent random sum then gives , whose root satisfying is . Its limit at equals , consistent with finite total progeny almost surely; its derivative diverges there, so the expectation of is nevertheless infinite.

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