T. E. Harris and branching processes

TL;DR

This paper surveys T. E. Harris's foundational contributions to the theory of branching processes, highlighting his pioneering work from the 1940s through his influential 1963 book.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of Harris's key developments and their impact on the mathematical understanding of branching processes.

Findings

Harris established fundamental properties of branching processes.

He introduced key concepts that shaped subsequent research.

His work laid the groundwork for modern probabilistic models of branching phenomena.

Abstract

T. E. Harris was a pioneer par excellence in many fields of probability theory. In this paper, we give a brief survey of the many fundamental contributions of Harris to the theory of branching processes, starting with his doctoral work at Princeton in the late forties and culminating in his fundamental book "The Theory of Branching Processes," published in 1963.