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If the state space is the integers or natural numbers, then the stochastic process is called a discrete or integer-valued stochastic process. If the state space is the real line, then the stochastic process is referred to as a real-valued stochastic process or a process with continuous state space.
In 1953 the term Markov chain was used for stochastic processes with discrete or continuous index set, living on a countable or finite state space, see Doob. [1] or Chung. [2] Since the late 20th century it became more popular to consider a Markov chain as a stochastic process with discrete index set, living on a measurable state space. [3] [4] [5]
A continuous-time Markov chain (X t) t ≥ 0 is defined by a finite or countable state space S, a transition rate matrix Q with dimensions equal to that of the state space and initial probability distribution defined on the state space.
A state i is inessential if it is not essential. [2] A state is final if and only if its communicating class is closed. A Markov chain is said to be irreducible if its state space is a single communicating class; in other words, if it is possible to get to any state from any state. [1] [3]: 20
A stochastic process has the Markov property if the conditional probability distribution of future states of the process (conditional on both past and present values) depends only upon the present state; that is, given the present, the future does not depend on the past.
A stochastic matrix describes a Markov chain X t over a finite state space S with cardinality α.. If the probability of moving from i to j in one time step is Pr(j|i) = P i,j, the stochastic matrix P is given by using P i,j as the i-th row and j-th column element, e.g.,
A continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) is a continuous stochastic process in which, for each state, the process will change state according to an exponential random variable and then move to a different state as specified by the probabilities of a stochastic matrix. An equivalent formulation describes the process as changing state according to ...
In mathematics, the theory of stochastic processes is an important contribution to probability theory, [29] and continues to be an active topic of research for both theory and applications. [30] [31] [32] The word stochastic is used to describe other terms and objects in mathematics.