Given a branching random walk, let $M_n$ be the minimum position of any member of the $n$th generation. We calculate $\mathbf{ E}M_n$ to within O(1) and prove exponential tail bounds for $\mathbf{ P}\{ |M_n-\mathbf{ E}M_n|>x\}$, under quite general conditions on the branching random walk. In particular, together with work by Bramson [Z. Wahrsch. Verw. Gebiete 45 (1978) 89--108], our results fully characterize the possible behavior of $\mathbf { E}M_n$ when the branching random walk has bounded branching and step size.
Categories: math.PR math.CO