Asymptotic laws for nonconservative self-similar fragmentations

Abstract

We consider a self-similar fragmentation process in which the generic particle of size $x$ is replaced at probability rate $x^\alpha$, by its offspring made of smaller particles, where $\alpha$ is some positive parameter. The total of offspring sizes may be both larger or smaller than $x$ with positive probability. We show that under certain conditions the typical size in the ensemble is of the order $t^{-1/\alpha}$ and that the empirical distribution of sizes converges to a random limit which we characterise in terms of the reproduction law.