Abstract
In this paper, we study a limiting distribution induced by Bartlett's formulation of the Luria–Delbrück mutation model. We establish the validity of the probability generating function and devise an algorithm for computing the probability mass function. Maximum-likelihood estimation and asymptotic behaviour of the distribution are considered.
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Acknowledgements
With gratitude, I acknowledge invaluable assistance received on two occasions. A referee for my previous work drew my attention to the possibility of a limiting form of the generating function in EquationEquation (5); a referee for the present work offered suggestions that simplified the proof of Theorem 1. Part of this work was presented at a Society for Mathematical Biology conference, held on 30 July–2 August 2008 in Toronto, Canada.