Quasi-stationary distributions for queueing and other models

Abstract

This note presents conjectures on polynomial/algebraic/sub-exponential convergence of transition probabilities for $\lambda$-null recurrent and $\lambda$-transient Markov chains in continuous time. The only known positive examples are in queueing, branching, and related models. Implications for the existence of limiting conditional distributions for $\lambda$-transient chains are discussed.