An existence theorem for probability measures invariant under a Markov kernel

Abstract

LetP be a Markov kernel defined on a measurable space (X,A). A probability measure μ onA is said to beP-invariant if μ(A=∫P(x,A)dμ(x) for allA ∈A∈A. In this note we prove a criterion for the existence ofP-invariant probabilities which is, in particular, a substantial generalization of a classical theorem due to Oxtoby and Ulam ([5]). As another consequence of our main result, it is shown that every pseudocompact topological space admits aP-invariant Baire probability measure for any Feller kernelP.