We reveal a shape transition for a transient simple random walk forced to realize an excess $q$-norm of the local times, as the parameter $q$ crosses the value $q_c(d)=\frac{d}{d-2}$. Also, as an application of our approach, we establish a central limit theorem for the $q$-norm of the local times in dimension 4 or more.
We show a remarkable similarity between strategies to realize a large intersection or self-intersection local times in dimension five or more. This leads to the same rate functional for large deviation principles for the two objects obtained respectively by Chen and Morters, and by the present author. We also present a new estimate for the distribution of high level sets for a random walk, with application to the geometry of the intersection set of two high level sets of the local times of two independent random walks.
We obtain a large deviations principle for the self-intersection local times for a symmetric random walk in dimension d>4. As an application, we obtain moderate deviations for random walk in random sceneries in some region of parameters.
We present a Darboux-Wiener type lemma and apply it to obtain an exact asymptotic for the variance of the self-intersection of one and two-dimensional random walks. As a corollary, we obtain a central limit theorem for random walk in random scenery conjectured by Kesten and Spitzer in 1979.
We study the mean and variance of the number of self-intersections of the equilateral isotropic random walk in the plane, as well as the corresponding quantities for isotropic equilateral random polygons (random walks conditioned to return to their starting point after a given number of steps). The expected number of self-intersections is $(2/π^2)n\log n + O(n)$ for both walks and polygons with $n$ steps. The variance is $O(n^2 \log n)$ for both walks and polygons, which shows that the number of self-intersections exhibits concentration around the mean.
Let $S^{1},S^{2}$ be independent simple random walks in $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$ ($d=2,3$) started at the origin. We construct two-sided random walk paths conditioned that $S^{1}[0,\infty) \cap S^{2}[1, \infty) = \emptyset$.
We consider Random Walk in Random Scenery, denoted $X_n$, where the random walk is symmetric on $Z^d$, with $d>4$, and the random field is made up of i.i.d random variables with a stretched exponential tail decay, with exponent $α$ with $1<α$. We present asymptotics for the probability, over both randomness, that $\{X_n>n^β\}$ for $1/2<β<1$. To obtain such asymptotics, we establish large deviations estimates for the the self-intersection local times process.
We obtain large deviations estimates for the self-intersection local times for a symmetric random walk in dimension 3. Also, we show that the main contribution to making the self-intersection large, in a time period of length $n$, comes from sites visited less than some power of $\log(n)$. This is opposite to the situation in dimensions larger or equal to 5. Finally, we present two applications of our estimates: (i) to moderate deviations estimates for the range of a random walk, and (ii) to moderate deviations for random walk in random sceneries.
We prove existence of intersection exponents xi(k,lambda) for biased random walks on d-dimensional half-infinite discrete cylinders, and show that, as functions of lambda, these exponents are real analytic. As part of the argument, we prove convergence to stationarity of a time-inhomogeneous Markov chain on half-infinite random paths. Furthermore, we show this convergence takes place at exponential rate, an estimate obtained via a coupling of weighted half-infinite paths.
Let B_n be the number of self-intersections of a symmetric random walk with finite second moments in the integer planar lattice. We obtain moderate deviation estimates for B_n - E B_n and E B_n- B_n, which are given in terms of the best constant of a certain Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality. We also prove the corresponding laws of the iterated logarithm.
A planar self-avoiding walk (SAW) is a nearest neighbor random walk path in the square lattice with no self-intersection. A planar self-avoiding polygon (SAP) is a loop with no self-intersection. In this paper we present conjectures for the scaling limit of the uniform measures on these objects. The conjectures are based on recent results on the stochastic Loewner evolution and non-disconnecting Brownian motions. New heuristic derivations are given for the critical exponents for SAWs and SAPs.
The main purpose of this work is to define planar self-intersection local time by an alternative approach which is based on an almost sure pathwise approximation of planar Brownian motion by simple, symmetric random walks. As a result, Brownian self-intersection local time is obtained as an almost sure limit of local averages of simple random walk self-intersection local times. An important tool is a discrete version of the Tanaka--Rosen--Yor formula; the continuous version of the formula is obtained as an almost sure limit of the discrete version. The author hopes that this approach to self-i…
Let X and Y be independent transient Markov chains on the same state space that have the same transition probabilities. Let L denote the ``loop-erased path'' obtained from the path of X by erasing cycles when they are created. We prove that if the paths of X and Y have infinitely many intersections a.s., then L and Y also have infinitely many intersections a.s.
We revisit the problem of estimates of moments of random n-dimensional matrices of Wigner ensemble by using the approach elaborated by Ya. Sinai and A. Soshnikov and further developed by A. Ruzmaikina. Our main subject is given by the structure of closed even walks and their graphs that arise in these studies. We show that the total degree of a vertex of such a graph depends not only on the self-intersections degree of but also on the total number of all non-closed instants of self-intersections of the walk. This result is used to fill the gaps of earlier considerations.
Let $(X_t,t\geq 0)$ be a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^d$. Let $ l_T(x)= \int_0^T δ_x(X_s)ds$ the local time at the state $x$ and $ I_T= \sum\limits_{x\in\mathbb{Z}^d} l_T(x)^q $ the q-fold self-intersection local time (SILT). In \cite{Castell} Castell proves a large deviations principle for the SILT of the simple random walk in the critical case $q(d-2)=d$. In the supercritical case $q(d-2)>d$, Chen and Mörters obtain in \cite{ChenMorters} a large deviations principle for the intersection of $q$ independent random walks, and Asselah obtains in \cite{Asselah5} a large deviations principle for the…
Correction to "The stepping stone model in a random environment" -- limit theorems for the occupation time and intersection time of reversible random walks in random environments
Let $(X_t, t \geq 0)$ be an $α$-stable random walk with values in $\Z^d$. Let $l_t(x) = \int_0^t δ_x(X_s) ds$ be its local time. For $p>1$, not necessarily integer, $I_t = \sum_x l_t^p(x)$ is the so-called $p$-fold self- intersection local time of the random walk. When $p(d -α) < d$, we derive precise logarithmic asymptotics of the probability $P(I_t \geq r_t)$ for all scales $r_t \gg \E(I_t)$. Our result extends previous works by Chen, Li and Rosen 2005, Becker and König 2010, and Laurent 2012.
Let S_1(n),...,S_p(n) be independent symmetric random walks in Z^d. We establish moderate deviations and law of the iterated logarithm for the intersection of the ranges #{S_1[0,n]\cap... \cap S_p[0,n]} in the case d=2, p\ge 2 and the case d=3, p=2.
The asymptotics of the probability that the self-intersection local time of a random walk on $\Z^d$ exceeds its expectation by a large amount is a fascinating subject because of its relation to some models from Statistical Mechanics, to large-deviation theory and variational analysis and because of the variety of the effects that can be observed. However, the proof of the upper bound is notoriously difficult and requires various sophisticated techniques. We survey some heuristics and some recently elaborated techniques and results. This is an extended summary of a talk held on the CIRM-confere…
We prove a Large Deviations Principle for the number of intersections of two independent infinite-time ranges in dimension five and more, improving upon the moment bounds of Khanin, Mazel, Shlosman and Sina{ï} [KMSS94]. This settles, in the discrete setting, a conjecture of van den Berg, Bolthausen and den Hollander [BBH04], who analyzed this question for the Wiener sausage in finite-time horizon. The proof builds on their result (which was resumed in the discrete setting by Phetpradap [Phet12]), and combines it with a series of tools that were developed in recent works of the authors [AS17, A…
Fix $p>1$, not necessarily integer, with $p(d-2)<d$. We study the $p$-fold self-intersection local time of a simple random walk on the lattice $\Z^d$ up to time $t$. This is the $p$-norm of the vector of the walker's local times, $\ell_t$. We derive precise logarithmic asymptotics of the expectation of $\exp\{θ_t \|\ell_t\|_p\}$ for scales $θ_t>0$ that are bounded from above, possibly tending to zero. The speed is identified in terms of mixed powers of $t$ and $θ_t$, and the precise rate is characterized in terms of a variational formula, which is in close connection to the {\it Gagliardo-Nire…
We derive the exact value of intersection exponents between planar Brownian motions or random walks, confirming predictions from theoretical physics by Duplantier and Kwon. Let B and B' be independent Brownian motions (or simple random walks) in the plane, started from distinct points. We prove that the probability that the paths B[0,t] and B'[0,t] do not intersect decays like t^{-5/8}. More precisely, there is a constant c>0 such that if |B(0) - B'(0)| =1, for all t \ge 1, c^{-1} t^{-5/8} \le ¶[ B[0,t] \cap B'[0,t] = \emptyset ] \le c t^{-5/8}. One consequence is that the set of cut-points of…
There is a close connection between intersections of Brownian motion paths and percolation on trees. Recently, ideas from probability on trees were an important component of the multifractal analysis of Brownian occupation measure, in joint work with A. Dembo, J. Rosen and O. Zeitouni. As a consequence, we proved two conjectures about simple random walk in two dimensions: The first, due to Erdős and Taylor (1960), involves the number of visits to the most visited lattice site in the first $n$ steps of the walk. The second, due to Aldous (1989), concerns the number of steps it takes a simple ra…
For a random walk $S_n, n\geq 0$ in $\mathbb{Z}^d$, let $l(n,x)$ be its local time at the site $x\in \mathbb{Z}^d$. Define the $α$-fold self intersection local time $L_n(α) := \sum_{x} l(n,x)^α$, and let $L_n(α|ε, d)$ the corresponding quantity for $d$-dimensional simple random walk. Without imposing any moment conditions, we show that the variances of the local times $\mathop{var}(L_n(α))$ of any genuinely $d$-dimensional random walk are bounded above by the corresponding characteristics of the simple symmetric random walk in $\mathbb{Z}^d$, i.e. $\mathop{var}(L_n(α)) \leq C \mathop{var}[L_n(…
Let $G$ be a Cayley graph of a nonamenable group with spectral radius $ρ< 1$. It is known that branching random walk on $G$ with offspring distribution $μ$ is transient, i.e., visits the origin at most finitely often almost surely, if and only if the expected number of offspring $\bar μ$ satisfies $\bar μ\leq ρ^{-1}$. Benjamini and Müller (2010) conjectured that throughout the transient supercritical phase $1<\barμ \leq ρ^{-1}$, and in particular at the recurrence threshold $\bar μ= ρ^{-1}$, the trace of the branching random walk is tree-like in the sense that it is infinitely-ended almost sur…
In this work, we consider loop-erased random walk (LERW) in three dimensions and give an asymptotic estimate on the one-point function for LERW and the non-intersection probability of LERW and simple random walk in three dimensions for dyadic scales. These estimates will be crucial to the characterization of the convergence of LERW to its scaling limit in natural parametrization. As a step in the proof, we also obtain a coupling of two pairs of LERW and SRW with different starting points conditioned to avoid each other.
We consider the interlacement Poisson point process on the space of doubly-infinite Z^d-valued trajectories modulo time-shift, tending to infinity at positive and negative infinite times. The set of vertices and edges visited by at least one of these trajectories is the random interlacement at level u of Sznitman arXiv:0704.2560 . We prove that for any u>0, almost surely, (1) any two vertices in the random interlacement at level u are connected via at most ceiling(d/2) trajectories of the point process, and (2) there are vertices in the random interlacement at level u which can only be connect…
This paper proves the long-standing open conjecture rooted in chemical physics (Flory (1949)) that the self-avoiding walk (SAW) in the square lattice has root mean square displacement exponent ν= 3/4. This value is an instance of the formula ν=1 on Z and ν= max(1/2, 1/4 + 1/d) in Z^d for dimensions d \geq 2, which will be proved in a subsequent paper. This expression differs from the one that Flory's arguments suggested. We consider (a) the point process of self-intersections defined via certain paths of the symmetric simple random walk in Z^2 and (b) a ``weakly self-avoiding cone process'' re…
On the self-intersection time of non-backtracking random walks
Korteweg de Vries Institute for Mathematics, University of Amsterdam(阿姆斯特丹大学科特韦格-德弗里斯数学研究所);School of Computer Science, Nanjing University, China(南京大学计算机学院);Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Amsterdam(阿姆斯特丹数学与计算机科学中心);Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford(牛津大学计算机科学系);King’s College London, Department of Mathematics(伦敦国王学院数学系);School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, UK(伦敦大学玛丽女王学院数学科学学院);HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, and Department of Stochastics, Institute of Mathematics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary(匈牙利研究与教育网络阿尔弗雷德·雷尼数学研究所,布达佩斯技术与经济大学数学研究所随机过程系)
Let α([0,1]^p) denote the intersection local time of p independent d-dimensional Brownian motions running up to the time 1. Under the conditions p(d-2)<d and d\ge 2, we prove lim_{t\to\infty}t^{-1}\log P\bigl{α([0,1]^p)\ge t^{(d(p-1))/2}\bigr}=-γ_α(d,p) with the right-hand side being identified in terms of the the best constant of the Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality. Within the scale of moderate deviations, we also establish the precise tail asymptotics for the intersection local time I_n=#{(k_1,...,k_p)\in [1,n]^p;S_1(k_1)=... =S_p(k_p)} run by the independent, symmetric, Z^d-valued random wal…
We extend the conductance and canonical paths methods to the setting of general finite Markov chains, including non-reversible non-lazy walks. The new path method is used to show that a known bound for mixing time of a lazy walk on a Cayley graph with symmetric generating set also applies to the non-lazy non-symmetric case, often even when there is no holding probability.
Suppose X and Y are two independent irreducible Markov chains on n states. We consider the intersection time, which is the first time their trajectories intersect. We show for reversible and lazy chains that the total variation mixing time is always upper bounded by the expected intersection time taken over the worst starting states. For random walks on trees we show the two quantities are equivalent. We obtain an expression for the expected intersection time in terms of the eigenvalues for reversible and transitive chains. For such chains we also show that it is up to constants the geometric …
For a symmetric random walk in $Z^2$ with $2+δ$ moments, we represent $|\mathcal{R}(n)|$, the cardinality of the range, in terms of an expansion involving the renormalized intersection local times of a Brownian motion. We show that for each $k\geq 1$ \[ (\log n)^k [ \frac{1}{n} |\mathcal{R}(n)| +\sum_{j=1}^k (-1)^j (\textstyle{\frac1{2π}}\log n +c_X)^{-j} γ_{j,n}]\to 0, \qquad a.s. \] where $W_t$ is a Brownian motion, $W^{(n)}_t=W_{nt}/\sqrt n$, $γ_{j,n}$ is the renormalized intersection local time at time 1 for $W^{(n)}$, and $c_X$ is a constant depending on the distribution of the random wal…
Many known networks have structure of affiliation networks, where each of $n$ network's nodes (actors) selects an attribute set from a given collection of $m$ attributes and two nodes (actors) establish adjacency relation whenever they share a common attribute. We study behaviour of the random walk on such networks. For that purpose we use commonly used model of such networks -- random intersection graph. We establish the cover time of the simple random walk on the binomial random intersection graph ${\cal G}(n,m,p)$ at the connectivity threshold and above it. We consider the range of $n,m,p$ …
Let $(X_t,t\geq0)$ be a continuous time simple random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^d$ ($d\geq3$), and let $l_T(x)$ be the time spent by $(X_t,t\geq0)$ on the site $x$ up to time $T$. We prove a large deviations principle for the $q$-fold self-intersection local time $I_T=\sum_{x\in\mathbb{Z}^d}l_T(x)^q$ in the critical case $q=\frac{d}{d-2}$. When $q$ is integer, we obtain similar results for the intersection local times of $q$ independent simple random walks.
We investigate random walks in independent, identically distributed random sceneries under the assumption that the scenery variables satisfy Cramer's condition. We prove moderate deviation principles in dimensions two and larger, covering all those regimes where rate and speed do not depend on the actual distribution of the scenery. In the case of dimension four and larger we even obtain precise asymptotics for the annealed probability of a moderate deviation, extending a classical central limit theorem of Kesten and Spitzer. In dimension three and larger, an important ingredient in the proofs…
This paper proves the formula ν(d) =1 for d=1 and ν(d) = max(1/4 +1/d, 1/2) for d > 1 for the root mean square displacement exponent ν(d) of the self-avoiding walk (SAW) in Z^d, and thus, resolves some major long-standing open conjectures rooted in chemical physics (Flory, 1949). The values ν(2) =3/4 and ν(4) = 1/2 coincide with those that were believed on the basis of heuristic and "numerical evidence". Perhaps surprisingly, there was no precise conjecture in dimension 3. Yet as early as in the 1980ies, Monte Carlo simulations produced a couple of confidence intervals for the exponent ν(3). T…
In this article we study the distribution of the number of points of a simple random walk, visited a given number of times (the k-multiple point range). In a previous article we had developed a graph theoretical approach which is now extended from the closed to the the non restricted walk. Based on a study of the analytic properties of the first hit determinant a general method to define and calculate the generating functions of the moments of the distribution as analytical functions and express them as an absolutely converging series of graph contributions is given. So a method to calculate t…
In this article we calculate the third and fourth moment of the renormalized intersection local time of a planar Brownian motion. The third moment is calculated anlaytically, the fourth moment numerically. For the closed planar random walk the third moment of the distribution of the multiple point range is also calculated in leading order.
Let $(X_t,t\geq 0)$ be a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^d$. Let $ l_t(x)= \int_0^t δ_x(X_s)ds$ be the local time at site $x$ and $ I_t= \sum\limits_{x\in\mathbb{Z}^d} l_t(x)^p $ the p-fold self-intersection local time (SILT). Becker and König have recently proved a large deviations principle for $I_t$ for all $(p,d)\in\mathbb{R}^d\times\mathbb{Z}^d$ such that $p(d-2)<2$. We extend these results to a broader scale of deviations and to the whole subcritical domain $p(d-2)<d$. Moreover we unify the proofs of the large deviations principle using a method introduced by Castell for the critical case $p(…
Let ζbe the intersection exponent of random walks in Z^3 and αbe a positive real number. We construct a stochastic process from a simple random walk by erasing loops of length at most N^α. We will prove that for α< \frac{1}{1+2ζ}, the limiting distribution is Gaussian. For α> 2 the limiting distribution will be shown to be equal to the limiting distribution of the loop erased walk.
We study self-avoiding walk on graphs whose automorphism group has a transitive nonunimodular subgroup. We prove that self-avoiding walk is ballistic, that the bubble diagram converges at criticality, and that the critical two-point function decays exponentially in the distance from the origin. This implies that the critical exponent governing the susceptibility takes its mean-field value, and hence that the number of self-avoiding walks of length $n$ is comparable to the $n$th power of the connective constant. We also prove that the same results hold for a large class of repulsive walk models…
It is shown that oriented random walk on the Heisenberg group admits exponential intersection tail. As a corollary we get that on any transitive graph of polynomial volume growth, which is not a finite extension of $\mathbb{Z}, \mathbb{Z}^2$, the infinite cluster of percolation with retention parameter $p$, close enough to $1$, is transient.
We consider one or more independent random walks on the $d\ge 3$ dimensional discrete torus. The walks start from vertices chosen independently and uniformly at random. We analyze the fluctuation behavior of the size of some random sets arising from the trajectories of the random walks at a time proportional to the size of the torus. Examples include vacant sets and the intersection of ranges. The proof relies on a refined analysis of tail estimates for hitting time and can be applied for other vertex-transitive graphs.
We present results relating mixing times to the intersection time of branching random walk (BRW) in which the logarithm of the expected number of particles grows at rate of the spectral-gap $\mathrm{gap}$ . This is a finite state space analog of a critical branching process. Namely, we show that the maximal expected hitting time of a state by such a BRW is up to a universal constant larger than the $L_{\infty}$ mixing-time, whereas under transitivity the same is true for the intersection time of two independent such BRWs. Using the same methodology, we show that for a sequence of reversible Ma…
Let β_k(n) be the number of self-intersections of order k, appropriately renormalized, for a mean zero random walk X_n in Z^2 with 2+δmoments. On a suitable probability space we can construct X_n and a planar Brownian motion W_t such that for each k\geq 2, |β_k(n)-γ_k(n)|=O(n^{-a}), a.s. for some a>0 where γ_k(n) is the renormalized self-intersection local time of order k at time 1 for the Brownian motion W_{nt}/\sqrt n.
We study the random walk $X$ on the range of a simple random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^d$ in dimensions $d\geq 4$. When $d\geq 5$ we establish quenched and annealed scaling limits for the process $X$, which show that the intersections of the original simple random walk path are essentially unimportant. For $d=4$ our results are less precise, but we are able to show that any scaling limit for $X$ will require logarithmic corrections to the polynomial scaling factors seen in higher dimensions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that when $d=4$ similar logarithmic corrections are necessary in describing the a…
Let $L_n^{X}(x)$ denote the number of visits to $x \in {\bf Z}^2$ of the simple planar random walk $X$, up till step $n$. Let $X'$ be another simple planar random walk independent of $X$. We show that for any $0<b<1/(2 π)$, there are $n^{1-2πb+o(1)}$ points $x \in {\bf Z}^2$ for which $L_n^{X}(x)L_n^{X'}(x)\geq b^2 (\log n)^4$. This is the discrete counterpart of our main result, that for any $a<1$, the Hausdorff dimension of the set of {\it thick intersection points} $x$ for which $\limsup_{r \to 0} {\mathcal I}(x,r)/(r^2|\log r|^4)=a^2$, is almost surely $2-2a$. Here ${\mathcal I}(x,r)$ is t…
We consider a one-dimensional recurrent random walk in random environment (RWRE). We show that the - suitably centered - empirical distributions of the RWRE converge weakly to a certain limit law which describes the stationary distribution of a random walk in an infinite valley. The construction of the infinite valley goes back to Golosov. As a consequence, we show weak convergence for both the maximal local time and the self-intersection local time of the RWRE and also determine the exact constant in the almost sure upper limit of the maximal local time.
We consider a model of loop-erased random walks on the finite pre-Sierpinski gasket which permits rigorous analysis. We prove the existence of the scaling limit and show that the path of the limiting process is almost surely self-avoiding, while having Hausdorff dimension strictly greater than 1. This result means that the path has infinitely fine creases, while having no self-intersection. Our loop-erasing procedure is formulated by a `larger-scale-loops-first' rule. It enables us to obtain exact recursion relations, making use of `self-similarity' of a fractal structure.
In this paper, the local asymptotic estimation for the supremum of a random walk and its applications are presented. The summands of the random walk have common long-tailed and generalized strong subexponential distribution. This distribution class and the corresponding generalized local subexponential distribution class are two new distribution classes with some good properties. Further, some long-tailed distributions with intuitive and concrete forms are found, which show that the intersection of the two above-mentioned distribution classes with long-tailed distribution class properly contai…