ABSTRACT
A discrete-time stochastic process that gives the size of the nth generation of multiplying particles is called a branching process. The offspring particles survive for one-time unit, and produce a random number of offspring, independently from each other, and the process continues. Branching processes are classified according to the value of the mean size of the offspring. One of the research interests of cultural anthropologists is that of a long-term history of population dynamics. In epidemiology, the most basic model of the spread of an infectious disease is a branching process. Bacteria are known to reproduce asexually by binary fission, splitting into two identical cells.
