A queueing model with servers disguised as customers

Abstract

We propose a new queueing model, motivated by the phenomenon of pseudoprogression in cancer, in which the length of a queue appears to increase initially, before reducing to a steady state. We assume that servers arrive to the queue alongside the customers, i.e. `disguised' as customers. We derive the general equations for this model using matrix analytic methods, and demonstrate its behaviour with numerical simulations.