title: Coupling bounds for approximating birth-death processes by truncation.
abstract: Birth-death processes are continuous-time Markov counting processes. Approximate moments can be computed by truncating the transition rate matrix. Using a coupling argument, we derive bounds for the total variation distance between the process and its finite approximation.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biostatistics and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 60 College St, PO Box 208034 New Haven, CT 06510 USA, phone: (203) 785-6125.
authors.forename: Forrest W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomathematics, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Timothy C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Stutz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomathematics, University of California, Los Angeles ; Departments of Human Genetics and Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lange