On the length of an external branch in the beta-coalescent (Q1947600)

Consider a \(\Lambda\)-coalescent on \(n\) elements. The authors study the asymptotic behavior (as \(n\to\infty\)) of (a) the first time a randomly chosen element takes part in a collision, (b) the total number of collisions that took place until that time, and (c) the block counting process associated with the coalescent. The main assumption on \(\Lambda\) is that as \(t\to 0\), \(\int_t^1 x^{-2}\Lambda(dx) = C_0t^{-\alpha} + O(t^{-\alpha + \zeta})\), for some \(C_0>0\), \(\alpha\in(1,2)\), and \(\zeta> 1 - 1/\alpha\). For instance, this condition is satisfied by all Beta\((a,b)\)-coalescents with \(a\in(0,1)\) and \(b>0\).