Inprobability theory, thematrix analytic method is a technique to compute the stationaryprobability distribution of aMarkov chain which has a repeating structure (after some point) and a state space which grows unboundedly in no more than one dimension.[1][2] Such models are often described asM/G/1 type Markov chains because they can describe transitions in an M/G/1 queue.[3][4] The method is a more complicated version of thematrix geometric method and is the classical solution method for M/G/1 chains.[5]
An M/G/1-type stochastic matrix is one of the form[3]
whereBi andAi arek × k matrices. (Note that unmarked matrix entries represent zeroes.) Such a matrix describes theembedded Markov chain in an M/G/1 queue.[6][7] IfP isirreducible andpositive recurrent then the stationary distribution is given by the solution to the equations[3]
wheree represents a vector of suitable dimension with all values equal to 1. Matching the structure ofP,π is partitioned toπ1,π2,π3, …. To compute these probabilities the column stochastic matrixG is computed such that[3]
G is called the auxiliary matrix.[8] Matrices are defined[3]
^Bolch, Gunter; Greiner, Stefan; de Meer, Hermann; Shridharbhai Trivedi, Kishor (2006).Queueing Networks and Markov Chains: Modeling and Performance Evaluation with Computer Science Applications (2 ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 250.ISBN978-0471565253.
^Ramaswami, V. (1988). "A stable recursion for the steady state vector in markov chains of m/g/1 type".Communications in Statistics. Stochastic Models.4:183–188.doi:10.1080/15326348808807077.
^Meini, B. (1998). "Solving m/g/l type markov chains: Recent advances and applications".Communications in Statistics. Stochastic Models.14 (1–2):479–496.doi:10.1080/15326349808807483.