A scaling limit theorem for Galton-Watson processes in varying environments (Q2135126)

The authors find a sufficient condition for an appropriately scaled Galton-Watson process in a varying environment (GWVE) to converge weakly to a continuous-state branching process in a varying environment (CBVE). The GWVE is defined through its probability generating function (PGF). Let \(Z_{k}(n)\) be the GWVE at generation \(n\), given that it started at generation \(k\). Then, the considered rescaled process is \(X_{k}(s) = k^{-1}Z_{k}(\gamma(s))\), where \(\gamma\) is a increasing càdlàg time rescaling function. A condition on the PGF is provided which gives convergence of \(X_{k}(s)\) in the Skorokhod topology as \(k\to \infty\).