In recent years, there has been an interest in deriving certain important probabilistic results as consequences of deterministic ones; see for instance \cite{beig} and \cite{acc}. In this work, we continue on this path by deducing a well known equivalence between the speed of random walks on the integers and the growth of the size of their ranges. This result is an immediate consequence of the Kesten-Spitzer-Whitman theorem, and by appearances is probabilistic in nature, but we will show that it follows easily from an elementary deterministic result. We also investigate the common property of recurrent random walks of having speed zero, and show by example that this property need not be shared by deterministic sequences. However, if we consider the inter-arrival times (times at which the sequence is equal to 0) then we find a sufficient deterministic condition for a sequence to have zero speed, and show that this can be used to derive several probabilistic results.
We consider an irreducible finite range random walk on the $d$-dimensional integer lattice and study asymptotic behaviour of its transition function $p(n; x)$. In particular, for simple random walk our asymptotic formula is valid as long as $n (n - |x|_1)^{-2}$ tends to zero.
We introduce a class of nearest-neighbor integer random walks in random and non-random media, which includes excited random walks considered in the literature. At each site the random walker has a drift to the right, the strength of which depends on the environment at that site and on how often the walker has visited that site before. We give exact criteria for recurrence and transience and consider the speed of the walk.
We consider a random walk on integers where at the first visits to a site the walker gets a positive drift, but where after a certain number of visits the walker gets a negative drift. We prove that the walker is almost surely transient to the left with positive speed.
We consider Reinforced Random Walks where transition probabilities are a function of the proportion of times the walk has traversed an edge. We give conditions for recurrence or transience. A phase transition is observed, similar to Pemantle \cite{Pem000} on trees.
According to Comets, Gantert and Zeitouni on the one hand and to Derriennic on the other hand, some functionals associated to the hitting times of random walks in random environment on the integer line coincide, for the walk itself and for the walk in the reversed environment. We show that these two duality principles are algebraically equivalent, that they both stem from the Markov property of the walk in a fixed environment, and not of the ergodicity of the model, and that there exists finitist and almost sure versions of this duality.
We analyse a random walk on the ring of integers mod $n$, which at each time point can make an additive `step' or a multiplicative `jump'. When the probability of making a jump tends to zero as an appropriate power of $n$ we prove the existence of a total variation pre-cutoff for this walk. In addition, we show that the process obtained by subsampling our walk at jump times exhibits a true cutoff, with mixing time dependent on whether the step distribution has zero mean.
The sequence of the simple random walks on Hamming schemes $\{H(n, q)\}_{n=1}^{\infty}$ has a cutoff phenomenon for each integer $q$ greater than or equal to $3$. In this paper, for the sequence of simple random walks on Hamming schemes $\{H(n, q)\}_{n=1}^{\infty}$ with $q\geq 3$, we give a simple majorant and a sharp minorant function for total variance distances between transition distributions and stationary distributions.
We consider the range of a one-parameter family of self-interacting walks on the integers up to the time of exit from an interval. We derive the weak convergence of an appropriately scaled range. We show that the distribution functions of the limits of the scaled range satisfy a certain class of de Rham's functional equations. We examine the regularity of the limits.
Several phase transitions for excited random walks on the integers are known to be characterized by a certain drift parameter delta. For recurrence/transience the critical threshold is |delta|=1, for ballisticity it is |delta|=2 and for diffusivity |delta|=4. In this paper we establish a phase transition at |delta|=3. We show that the expected return time of the walker to the starting point, conditioned on return, is finite iff |delta|>3. This result follows from an explicit description of the tail behaviour of the return time as a function of delta, which is achieved by diffusion approximatio…
We consider excited random walks on the integers with a bounded number of i.i.d. cookies per site which may induce drifts both to the left and to the right. We extend the criteria for recurrence and transience by M. Zerner and for positivity of speed by A.-L. Basdevant and A. Singh to this case and also prove an annealed central limit theorem. The proofs are based on results from the literature concerning branching processes with migration and make use of a certain renewal structure.
Recently, Ishiwata, Kawabi and Kotani [2] proved two kinds of central limit theorems for non-symmetric random walks on crystal lattices from the view point of discrete geometric analysis. In the present paper, we obtain yet another kind of the central limit theorem for them. Our argument is based on a measure-change technique due to Alexopoulos [1].
We consider a random walk on a multidimensional integer lattice with random bounds on local times, conditioned on the event that it hits a high level before its death. We introduce an auxiliary "core" process that has a regenerative structure and plays a key role in our analysis. We obtain a number of representations for the distribution of the random walk in terms of the similar distribution of the "core" process. Based on that, we prove a number of limiting results by letting the high level to tend to infinity. In particular, we generalise results for a simple symmetric one-dimensional rando…
For a symmetric, homogeneous and irreducible random walk on d-dimensional integer lattice Z^d, having zero mean and a finite variance of jumps, we study the passage times (with possible infinite values) determined by the starting point x, the hitting state y and the taboo state z. We find the probability that these passages times are finite and analyze the tails of their cumulative distribution functions. In particular, it turns out that for the random walk on Z^d, except for a simple (nearest neighbor) random walk on Z, the order of the tail decrease is specified by dimension d only. In contr…
We study certain self-interacting walks on the set of integers, that choose to jump to the right or to the left randomly but influenced by the number of times they have previously jumped along the edges in the finite neighbourhood of their current position (in the present paper, typically, we will discuss the case where one considers the neighbouring edges and the next-to-neighbouring edges). We survey a variety of possible behaviours, including some where the walk is eventually confined to an interval of large length. We also focus on certain "asymmetric" drifts, where we prove that with posi…
Considering homogeneous and oscillating random walks on the integers, we simplify classical works on recurrence of Spitzer and Kemperman, respectively. Some links with renewal theory are discussed.
We consider a one-dimensional discrete symmetric random walk with a reflecting boundary at the origin. Generating functions are found for the 2- dimensional probability distribution P{Sn = x,max1?j?n Sn = a} of being at position x after n steps, while the maximal location that the walker has achieved during these n steps is a. We also obtain the familiar (marginal) 1-dimensional distribution for Sn = x, but more importantly that for max1?j?n Sj = a asymptotically at fixed a2/n. We are able to compute and compare the expectations and variances of the two one-dimensional distributions, finding t…
We study the limiting behaviors of a generalized elephant random walk on the integer lattice. This random walk is defined by using two sequences of parameters expressing the memory at each step from the whole past and the drift of each step to the right, respectively. This model is also regarded as a dependent Bernoulli process. Our results reveal how the scaling factors are determined by the behaviors of the parameters. In particular, we allow the degeneracy of the parameters. We further present several examples in which the scaling factors are explicitly computed.
We consider excited random walks (ERWs) on integers with a bounded number of i.i.d. cookies per site without the non-negativity assumption on the drifts induced by the cookies. Kosygina and Zerner [KZ08] have shown that when the total expected drift per site, delta, is larger than 1 then ERW is transient to the right and, moreover, for delta>4 under the averaged measure it obeys the Central Limit Theorem. We show that when delta in (2,4] the limiting behavior of an appropriately centered and scaled excited random walk under the averaged measure is described by a strictly stable law with parame…
We describe scaling limits of recurrent excited random walks (ERWs) on integers in i.i.d. cookie environments with a bounded number of cookies per site. We allow both positive and negative excitations. It is known that ERW is recurrent if and only if the expected total drift per site, delta, belongs to the interval [-1,1]. We show that if |delta|<1 then the diffusively scaled ERW under the averaged measure converges to a (delta,-delta)-perturbed Brownian motion. In the boundary case, |delta|=1, the space scaling has to be adjusted by an extra logarithmic term, and the weak limit of ERW happens…
A short proof of the equivalence of the recurrence of non-backtracking random walk and that of simple random walk on regular infinite graphs is given. It is then shown how this proof can be extended in certain cases where the graph in question is not regular.
Let $W$ be an integer valued random variable satisfying $E[W] =: δ\geq 0$ and $P(W<0)>0$, and consider a self-interacting random walk that behaves like a simple symmetric random walk with the exception that on the first visit to any integer $x\in \mathbb{Z}$ the size of the next step is an independent random variable with the same distribution as $W$. We show that this self-interacting random walk is recurrent if $δ\leq 1$ and transient if $δ>1$. This is a special case of our main result which concerns the recurrence and transience of excited random walks (or cookie random walks) with non-near…
We show that for a uniformly irreducible random walk on a graph, with bounded range, there is a Floyd function for which the random walk converges to its corresponding Floyd boundary. Moreover if we add the assumptions, $p^{(n)}(v,w)\leq C ρ^n$, where $ρ< 1$ is the spectral radius, then for any Floyd function $f$ that satisfies $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}nf(n)<\infty$, the Dirichlet problem with respect to the Floyd boundary is solvable.
In this note we study dynamical random walks (DRW) with internal states. We consider a particle which performs a dynamical random walk on $\mathbb{Z}$ and whose local dynamics is given by expanding maps. We provide sufficient conditions for the position of the particle $z_n$ to satisfy the Central Limit Theorem.
We consider UL and LU stochastic factorizations of the transition probability matrix of a random walk on the integers, which is a doubly infinite tridiagonal stochastic Jacobi matrix. We give conditions on the free parameter of both factorizations in terms of certain continued fractions such that this stochastic factorization is always possible. By inverting the order of the factors (also known as a Darboux transformation) we get new families of random walks on the integers. We identify the spectral matrices associated with these Darboux transformations (in both cases) which are basically conj…
We obtain expected number of arrivals, absorption probabilities and expected time before absorption for a discrete random walk on the integers with an infinite set of equidistant multiple function barriers
A {\it scenery} is a coloring $ξ$ of the integers. Let $\{S_t\}_{t\geq 0}$ be a recurrent random walk on the integers. Observing the scenery $ξ$ along the path of this random walk, one sees the color $χ_t:=ξ(S_t)$ at time $t$. The {\it scenery reconstruction problem} is concerned with recovering the scenery $ξ$, given only the sequence of observations $χ:=(χ_t)_{t\geq 0}$. The scenery reconstruction methods presented to date require the random walk to have bounded increments. Here, we present a new approach for random walks with unbounded increments which works when the tail of the increment d…
We study the persistence exponent for random walks in random sceneries (RWRS) with integer values and for some special random walks in random environment in $\mathbb Z^2$ including random walks in $\mathbb Z^2$ with random orientations of the horizontal layers.
We consider the scaling behavior of the range and $p$-multiple range, that is the number of points visited and the number of points visited exactly $p\geq 1$ times, of simple random walk on ${\mathbb Z}^d$, for dimensions $d\geq 2$, up to time of exit from a domain $D_N$ of the form $D_N = ND$ where $D\subset {\mathbb R}^d$, as $N\uparrow\infty$. Recent papers have discussed connections of the range and related statistics with the Gaussian free field, identifying in particular that the distributional scaling limit for the range, in the case $D$ is a cube in $d\geq 3$, is proportional to the ex…
We prove that any vertex-reinforced random walk on the integer lattice with non-decreasing reinforcement sequence $w$ satisfying $w(k) = o(k^α)$ for some $α< 1/2$ is recurrent. This improves on previous results of Volkov (2006) and Schapira (2012).
We consider a simple random walk in an i.i.d. non-negative potential on the d-dimensional integer lattice, $d\geq 3$. We study the quenched Lyapunov exponents, and present a probabilistic proof of its continuity when the potentials converge in distribution.
In a series of papers, G. Harmer and D. Abbott study the behavior of random walks associated with games introduced in 1997 by J. M. R. Parrondo. These games illustrate an apparent paradox that random and deterministic mixtures of losing games may produce winning games. In this paper, classical cyclic random walks on the additive group of integers modulo $m$, a given integer, are used in a straightforward way to derive the strong law limits of a general class of games that contains the Parrondo games. We then consider the question of when random mixtures of fair games related to these walks may…
Let $(S_k)_{k\ge 1}$ be the classical Bernoulli random walk on the integer line with jump parameters $p\in(0,1)$ and $q=1-p$. The probability distribution of the sojourn time of the walk in the set of non-negative integers up to a fixed time is well-known, but its expression is not simple. By modifying slightly this sojourn time--through a particular counting process of the zeros of the walk as done by Chung & Feller ["On fluctuations in coin-tossings", Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 35 (1949), 605-608]-, simpler representations may be obtained for its probability distribution. In the aforementi…
This paper is concerned with the continuous-time quantum walk on Z, Z^d, and infinite homogeneous trees. By using the generating function method, we compute the limit of the average probability distribution for the general isotropic walk on Z, and for nearest-neighbor walks on Z^d and infinite homogeneous trees. In addition, we compute the asymptotic approximation for the probability of the return to zero at time t in all these cases.
Jim Propp's P-machine, also known as the "rotor router model" is a simple deterministic process that simulates a random walk on a graph. Instead of distributing chips to randomly chosen neighbors, it serves the neighbors in a fixed order. We investigate how well this process simulates a random walk. For the graph being the infinite path, we show that, independent of the starting configuration, at each time and on each vertex, the number of chips on this vertex deviates from the expected number of chips in the random walk model by at most a constant c_1, which is approximately 2.29. For interva…
Critical catalytic branching random walk on d-dimensional integer lattice is investigated for all d. The branching may occur at the origin only and the start point is arbitrary. The asymptotic behavior, as time grows to infinity, is determined for the mean local particles numbers. The same problem is solved for the probability of particles presence at a fixed lattice point. Moreover, the Yaglom type limit theorem is established for the local number of particles. Our analysis involves construction of an auxiliary Bellman-Harris branching process with six types of particles. The proofs employ th…
The integer points (sites) of the real line are marked by the positions of a standard random walk. We say that the set of marked sites is weakly, moderately or strongly sparse depending on whether the jumps of the standard random walk are supported by a bounded set, have finite or infinite mean, respectively. Focussing on the case of strong sparsity we consider a nearest neighbor random walk on the set of integers having jumps $\pm 1$ with probability $1/2$ at every nonmarked site, whereas a random drift is imposed at every marked site. We prove new distributional limit theorems for the so def…
We study random walks on the integers mod $G_n$ that are determined by an integer sequence $\{ G_n \}_{n \geq 1}$ generated by a linear recurrence relation. Fourier analysis provides explicit formulas to compute the eigenvalues of the transition matrices and we use this to bound the mixing time of the random walks.
In this note, we establish a functional central limit theorem for the capacity of the range for a class of $α$-stable random walks on the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$ with $d > 5α/2$. Using similar methods, we also prove an analogous result for the cardinality of the range when $d > 3α/ 2$.
We prove that vertex-reinforced random walk on the integers with weight of order k to the power alpha, for alpha in [0, 1/2), is recurrent. This confirms a conjecture of Volkov for alpha<1/2. The conjecture for alpha in [1/2, 1) remains open.
We consider a random walk among i.i.d. obstacles on the one dimensional integer lattice under the condition that the walk starts from the origin and reaches a remote location y. The obstacles are represented by a killing potential, which takes value M>0 with probability p and value 0 with probability (1-p), 0<p<1, independently at each site of the lattice. We consider the walk under both quenched and annealed measures. It is known that under either measure the crossing time from 0 to y of such walk, tau(y), grows linearly in y. More precisely, the expectation of tau(y)/y converges to a limit a…
In the first part of the article our subject of interest is a simple symmetric random walk on the integers which faces a random risk to be killed. This risk is described by random potentials, which in turn are defined by a sequence of independent and identically distributed non-negative random variables. To determine the risk of taking a walk in these potentials we consider the decay of the Green function. There are two possible tools to describe this decay: The quenched Lyapunov exponents and the annealed Lyapunov exponents. It turns out that on the integers we can state a precise relation be…
We introduce a new self-interacting random walk on the integers in a dynamic random environment and show that it converges to a pure diffusion in the scaling limit. We also find a lower bound on the diffusion coefficient in some special cases. With minor changes the same argument can be used to prove the scaling limit of the corresponding walk in Z^d.
We continue the investigation of the localization phenomenon for a Vertex Reinforced Random Walk on the integer lattice. We provide some partial results towards a full characterization of the weights for which localization on 5 sites occurs with positive probability, and make some conjecture concerning the almost sure behavior.
Associated to a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}$ and a positive integer $n$, there is a return probability of the random walk returning to the origin after $n$ steps. An interesting question is when the set of return probabilities uniquely determines the random walk. There are trivial situations where two different random walks have the same return probabilities. However, among random walks in which these situations do not occur, our main result states that the return probabilities do determine the random walk. As a corollary, we will obtain a result dealing with the representation theory of $\math…
This paper concerns a random walk that moves on the integer lattice and has zero mean and a finite variance. We obtain first an asymptotic estimate of the transition probability of the walk absorbed at the origin, and then, using the obtained estimate, that of the walk absorbed on a half line. The latter is used to evaluate the space-time distribution for the first entrance of the walk into the half line.
In this paper, we consider a large class of subordinate random walks $X$ on integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$ via subordinators with Laplace exponents which are complete Bernstein functions satisfying a certain lower scaling condition at zero. We establish estimates for one-step transition probabilities, the Green function and the Green function of a ball, and prove the Harnack inequality for non-negative harmonic functions.
We consider a bounded step size random walk in an ergodic random environment with some ellipticity, on an integer lattice of arbitrary dimension. We prove a level 3 large deviation principle, under almost every environment, with rate function related to a relative entropy.
Let $S_n$ be the simple random walk on the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$. For a Bernstein function $ϕ$ we consider a random walk $S^ϕ_n$ which is subordinated to $S_n$. Under a certain assumption on the behaviour of $ϕ$ at zero we establish global estimates for the transition probabilities of the random walk $S^ϕ_n$. The main tools that we apply are the parabolic Harnack inequality and appropriate bounds for the transition kernel of the corresponding continuous time random walk.
We study the scaling limit of the capacity of the range of a simple random walk on the integer lattice in dimension four. We establish a strong law of large numbers and a central limit theorem with a non-gaussian limit. The asymptotic behaviour is analogous to that found by Le Gall in '86 for the volume of the range in dimension two.
Consider a simple symmetric random walk on the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}$. Let $E(n)$ denote a favorite edge of the random walk at time $n$. In this paper, we study the escape rate of $E(n)$, and show that almost surely $\liminf_{n\to\infty}\frac{|E(n)|}{\sqrt{n}\cdot(\log n)^{-γ}}$ equals 0 if $γ\le 1$, and is infinity otherwise. We also obtain a law of the iterated logarithm for $E(n)$.
