Let {X(t),t ≥ 0} be a birth and death process whose state space is the set {0,1,2} and for which
We consider two independent copies, {X1(t), t ≥ 0} and {X2(t), t ≥ 0}, of this process, and we define
We can show that {Y(t),t ≥ 0} is also a birth and death process.
(a) Give the birth and death rates of the process {Y(t), t ≥ 0}.
(b) Calculate the expected value of the random variable Y{t) after two transitions if X1(0) = X2(0) = 0.
(c) Calculate the limiting probabilities of the process {Y(t), t ≥ 0}.