A Stochastic Fixed Point Equation Related to Weighted Branching with Deterministic Weights

Abstract

For real numbers $C,T_{1},T_{2},...$ we find all solutions $\mu$ to the stochastic fixed point equation $W \sim\sum_{j\ge 1}T_{j}W_{j}+C$, where $W,W_{1},W_{2},...$ are independent real-valued random variables with distribution $\mu$ and $\sim$ means equality in distribution. All solutions are infinitely divisible. The set of solutions depends on the closed multiplicative subgroup of ${ R}_{*}={ R}\backslash\{0\}$ generated by the $T_{j}$. If this group is continuous, i.e. ${R}_{*}$ itself or the positive halfline ${R}_{+}$, then all nontrivial fixed points are stable laws. In the remaining (discrete) cases further periodic solutions arise. A key observation is that the Levy measure of any fixed point is harmonic with respect to $\Lambda=\sum_{j\ge 1}\delta_{T_{j}}$, i.e. $\Gamma=\Gamma\star\Lambda$, where $\star$ means multiplicative convolution. This will enable us to apply the powerful Choquet-Deny theorem.