Inhomogeneous birth-death and birth-death-immigration processes and the logarithmic series distribution (Q1180180)

An explanation is given for Kendall's result that the population size at time \(t\) for arbitrary birth and death rates (as functions of \(t\)) is, for one original ancestor, a simple, modified geometric distribution. The logarithmic form of means for number of families with a given number of living members at \(t\) is preserved if birth, death and immigration rates vary with time, provided the birth and immigration rates are proportional. From a backward equation, explicit probabilities used in earlier results in the paper are obtained.