In this paper we study the property of asymptotic direction for random walks in random i.i.d. environments (RWRE). We prove that if the set of directions where the walk is transient is non empty and open, the walk admits an asymptotic direction. The main tool to obtain this result is the construction of a renewal structure with cones. We also prove that RWRE admits at most two opposite asymptotic directions.
In this work we study asymptotic properties of a long range memory random walk known as elephant random walk. First we prove recurrence and positive recurrence for the elephant random walk. Then, we establish the transience regime of the model. Finally, under the Poisson Hypothesis, we study the replica mean field limit for this random walk and we obtain an upper bound for the expected distance of the walker from the origin.
We consider a transient random walk on $Z^d$ which is asymptotically stable, without centering, in a sense which allows different norming for each component. The paper is devoted to the asymptotics of the probability of the first return to the origin of such a random walk at time $n$.
We prove existence of asymptotic entropy of random walks on regular languages over a finite alphabet and we give formulas for it. Furthermore, we show that the entropy varies real-analytically in terms of probability measures of constant support, which describe the random walk. This setting applies, in particular, to random walks on virtually free groups.
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.
Consider a nearest-neighbor random walk with certain asymptotically zero drift on the positive half line. Let $M$ be the maximum of an excursion starting from $1$ and ending at $0.$ We study the distribution of $M$ and characterize its asymptotics, which is quite different from those of simple random walks.
We study tail behaviour of the distribution of the area under the positive excursion of a random walk which has negative drift and heavy-tailed increments. We determine the asymptotics for tail probabilities for the area.
Suppose that $\{S_n,\ n\geq0\}$ is an asymptotically stable random walk. Let $g$ be a positive function and $T_g$ be the first time when $S_n$ leaves $[-g(n),\infty)$. In this paper we study asymptotic behaviour of $T_g$. We provide integral tests for function $g$ that guarantee $P(T_g>n)\sim V(g)P(T_0>n)$ where $T_0$ is the first strict descending ladder epoch of $\{S_n\}$
We prove that every random walk in a uniformly elliptic random environment satisfying the cone mixing condition and a non-effective polynomial ballisticity condition with high enough degree has an asymptotic direction.
Recently Simenhaus proved that for any elliptic random walk in random environment, transience in the neighborhood of a given direction is equivalent to the a.s. existence of a deterministic asymptotic direction and to transience in any direction in the open half space defined by this asymptotic direction. Here we prove an improved version of this result and review some open problems.
In this article we prove existence of the asymptotic entropy for isotropic random walks on regular Fuchsian buildings. Moreover, we give formulae for the asymptotic entropy, and prove that it is equal to the rate of escape of the random walk with respect to the Green distance. When the building arises from a Fuchsian Kac-Moody group our results imply results for random walks induced by bi-invariant measures on these groups, however our results are proven in the general setting without the assumption of any group acting on the building. The main idea is to consider the retraction of the isotrop…
We study tail behaviour of the distribution of the area under the positive excursion of a random walk which has negative drift and light-tailed increments. We determine the asymptotics for local probabilities for the area and prove a local central limit theorem for the duration of the excursion conditioned on the large values of its area.
We consider the sum of the coordinates of a simple random walk on the K-dimensional hypercube, and prove a double asymptotic of this process, as both the time parameter n and the space parameter K tend to infinity. Depending on the asymptotic ratio of the two parameters, they converge towards either a Brownian motion, an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process or an i.i.d. collection of Gaussian variables.
We write $R_n$ for the minimal position attained after time $n$ by a branching random walk in the boundary case. In this article, we prove that $R_n - \frac{1}{2} \log n$ converges in law toward a shifted Gumbel distribution.
We study the asymptotic behavior of a Markov chain on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ that corresponds to the two-dimensional marginals of a reinforcement process on $\mathbb{Z}^{\mathbb{N}}$. Three distinct asymptotic regimes are identified, depending on the scaling of the reinforcement parameter $Δ$ with respect to the number of steps performed by the chain.
In the present paper, we study long time asymptotics of non-symmetric random walks on crystal lattices from a view point of discrete geometric analysis due to Kotani and Sunada [11, 23]. We observe that the Euclidean metric associated with the standard realization of the crystal lattice, called the Albanese metric, naturally appears in the asymptotics. In the former half of the present paper, we establish two kinds of (functional) central limit theorems for random walks. We first show that the Brownian motion on the Euclidean space with the Albanese metric appears as the scaling limit of the u…
We study the asymptotic tail probability of the first-passage time over a moving boundary for a random walk conditioned to return to zero, where the increments of the random walk have finite variance. Typically, the asymptotic tail behavior may be described through a regularly varying function with exponent -1/2, where the impact of the boundary is captured by the slowly varying function. Yet, the moving boundary may have a stronger effect when the tail is considered at a time close to the return point of the random walk bridge. In the latter case, a phase transition appears in the asymptotics…
We consider a generalized version of a directionally reinforced random walk, which was originally introduced by Mauldin, Monticino, and von Weizsäcker in \cite{drw}. Our main result is a stable limit theorem for the position of the random walk in higher dimensions. This extends a result of Horváth and Shao \cite{limits} that was previously obtained in dimension one only (however, in a more stringent functional form).
In this paper, we consider the $(1,R)$ state-dependent reflecting random walk (RW) on the half line, allowing the size of jumps to the right at maximal $R$ and to the left only 1. We provide an explicit criterion for positive recurrence and the explicit expression of the stationary distribution based on the intrinsic branching structure within the walk. As an application, we obtain the tail asymptotic of the stationary distribution in the "near critical" situation.
We study the set of directions asymptotically explored by a spatially homogeneous random walk in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space. We survey some pertinent results of Kesten and Erickson, make some further observations, and present some examples. We also explore links to the asymptotics of one-dimensional projections, and to the growth of the convex hull of the random walk.
We study the first exit time $τ$ from an arbitrary cone with apex at the origin by a non-homogeneous random walk (Markov chain) on $\Z^d$ ($d \geq 2$) with mean drift that is asymptotically zero. Specifically, if the mean drift at $\bx \in \Z^d$ is of magnitude $O(\| \bx\|^{-1})$, we show that $τ<\infty$ a.s. for any cone. On the other hand, for an appropriate drift field with mean drifts of magnitude $\| \bx\|^{-β}$, $β\in (0,1)$, we prove that our random walk has a limiting (random) direction and so eventually remains in an arbitrarily narrow cone. The conditions imposed on the random walk a…
Let $\{S_n, n\geq1\}$ be a random walk wih independent and identically distributed increments and let $\{g_n,n\geq1\}$ be a sequence of real numbers. Let $T_g$ denote the first time when $S_n$ leaves $(g_n,\infty)$. Assume that the random walk is oscillating and asymptotically stable, that is, there exists a sequence $\{c_n,n\geq1\}$ such that $S_n/c_n$ converges to a stable law. In this paper we determine the tail behaviour of $T_g$ for all oscillating asymptotically stable walks and all boundary sequences satisfying $g_n=o(c_n)$. Furthermore, we prove that the rescaled random walk conditione…
Suppose we are given the free product V of a finite family of finite or countable sets. We consider a transient random walk on the free product arising naturally from a convex combination of random walks on the free factors. We prove the existence of the asymptotic entropy and present three different, equivalent formulas, which are derived by three different techniques. In particular, we will show that the entropy is the rate of escape with respect to the Greenian metric. Moreover, we link asymptotic entropy with the rate of escape and volume growth resulting in two inequalities.
We consider random walks among random conductances on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ and establish precise asymptotics for the associated potential kernel and the Green's function of the walk killed upon exiting balls. The result is proven for random walks on i.i.d. supercritical percolation clusters among ergodic degenerate conductances satisfying a moment condition. We also provide a similar result for the time-dynamic random conductance model. As an application we present a scaling limit for the variances in the Ginzburg-Landau $\nabla ϕ$-interface model.
We give criteria for ergodicity, transience and null recurrence for the random walk in random environment on {0,1,2,...}, with reflection at the origin, where the random environment is subject to a vanishing perturbation. Our results complement existing criteria for random walks in random environments and for Markov chains with asymptotically zero drift, and are significantly different to these previously studied cases. Our method is based on a martingale technique - the method of Lyapunov functions.
Consider a discrete-time one-dimensional supercritical branching random walk. We study the probability that there exists an infinite ray in the branching random walk that always lies above the line of slope $γ-ε$, where $γ$ denotes the asymptotic speed of the right-most position in the branching random walk. Under mild general assumptions upon the distribution of the branching random walk, we prove that when $ε\to 0$, the probability in question decays like $\exp\{- {β+ o(1)\over ε^{1/2}}\}$, where $β$ is a positive constant depending on the distribution of the branching random walk. In the sp…
In this paper we generalize the result of directional transience from [SabotTournier10]. This enables us, by means of [Simenhaus07], [ZernerMerkl01] and [Bouchet12] to conclude that, on Z^d (for any dimension d), random walks in i.i.d. Dirichlet environment, or equivalently oriented-edge reinforced random walks, have almost-surely an asymptotic direction equal to the direction of the initial drift, unless this drift is zero. In addition, we identify the exact value or distribution of certain probabilities, answering and generalizing a conjecture of [SaTo10].
We study the exact asymptotics for the distribution of the first time $τ_x$ a Lévy process $X_t$ crosses a negative level $-x$. We prove that $\mathbf P(τ_x>t)\sim V(x)\mathbf P(X_t\ge 0)/t$ as $t\to\infty$ for a certain function $V(x)$. Using known results for the large deviations of random walks we obtain asymptotics for $\mathbf P(τ_x>t)$ explicitly in both light and heavy tailed cases. We also apply our results to find asymptotics for the distribution of the busy period in an M/G/1 queue.
We consider a centered random walk with finite variance and investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the probability that the area under this walk remains positive up to a large time $n$. Assuming that the moment of order $2+δ$ is finite, we show that the exact asymptotics for this probability are $n^{-1/4}$. To show these asymptotics we develop a discrete potential theory for the integrated random walk.
The entropy, the spectral radius and the drift are important numerical quantities associated to random walks on countable groups. We prove sharp inequalities relating those quantities for walks with a finite second moment, improving upon previous results of Avez, Varopoulos, Carne, Ledrappier. We also deduce inequalities between these quantities and the volume growth of the group. Finally, we show that the equality case in our inequality is rather rigid.
Enumeration of planar lattice walks is a classical topic in combinatorics, at the cross-roads of several domains (e.g., probability, statistical physics, computer science). The aim of this paper is to propose a new approach to obtain some exact asymptotics for walks confined to the quarter plane.
This note is devoted to the study of the maximum of the excursion of a random walk with negative drift and light-tailed increments. More precisely, we determine the local asymptotics of the joint distribution of the length, maximum and the time at which this maximum is achieved. This result allows one to obtain a local central limit theorems for the length of the excursion conditioned on large values of the maximum.
Consider the random walk $S_n=ξ_1+...+ξ_n$ with independent and identically distributed increments and negative mean $\mathbf Eξ=-m<0$. Let $M=\sup_{0\le i} S_i$ be the supremum of the random walk. In this note we present derivation of asymptotics for $\mathbf P(M>x), x\to\infty$ for long-tailed distributions. This derivation is based on the martingale arguments and does not require any prior knowledge of the theory of long-tailed distributions. In addition the same approach allows to obtain asymptotics for $\mathbf P(M_τ>x)$, where $M_τ=\max_{0\le i<τ}S_i$ and $τ=\min\{n\ge 1: S_n\le 0 \}$.
We consider a branching random walk on $\mathbb{R}$ with a killing barrier at zero. At criticality, the process becomes eventually extinct, and the total progeny $Z$ is therefore finite. We show that the tail distribution of $Z$ displays a typical behaviour in $(n\ln^2(n))^{-1}$, which confirms the prediction of Addario-Berry and Broutin.
The probability that a one dimensional excited random walk in stationary ergodic and elliptic cookie environment is transient to the right (left) is either zero or one. This solves a problem posed by Kosygina and Zerner [8].
We consider a two dimensional reflecting random walk on the nonnegative integer quadrant. This random walk is assumed to be skip free in the direction to the boundary of the quadrant, but may have unbounded jumps in the opposite direction, which are referred to as upward jumps. We are interested in the tail asymptotic behavior of its stationary distribution, provided it exists. Assuming the upward jump size distributions have light tails, we completely find the rough tail asymptotics of the marginal stationary distributions in all directions. This generalizes the corresponding results for the …
In this article we consider transient random walks on HNN extensions of finitely generated groups. We prove that the rate of escape w.r.t. some generalised word length exists. Moreover, a central limit theorem with respect to the generalised word length is derived. Finally, we show that the rate of escape, which can be regarded as a function in the finitely many parameters which describe the random walk, behaves as a real-analytic function in terms of probability measures of constant support.
We consider an i.i.d. random environment with a strong form of transience on the two dimensional integer lattice. Namely, the walk always moves forward in the y-direction. We prove a functional CLT for the quenched expected position of the random walk indexed by its level crossing times. We begin with a variation of the Martingale Central Limit Theorem. The main part of the paper checks the conditions of the theorem for our problem.
We consider a ballistic random walk in an i.i.d. random environment that does not allow retreating in a certain fixed direction. Homogenization and regeneration techniques combine to prove a law of large numbers and an averaged invariance principle. The assumptions are non-nestling and $1+\e$ (resp.\ $2+\e$) moments for the step of the walk uniformly in the environment, for the law of large numbers (resp. invariance principles). We also investigate invariance principles under fixed environments, and invariance principles for the environment-dependent mean of the walk.
In this article, we study the maximal displacement in a branching random walk. We prove that its asymptotic behaviour consists in a first almost sure ballistic term, a negative logarithmic correction in probability and stochastically bounded fluctuations. This result, proved by Addario-Berry and Reed, and Hu and Shi is given here under close-to-optimal integrability conditions. We provide simple proofs for this result, also deducing the genealogical structure of the individuals that are close to the maximal displacement.
We consider asymptotics for the maximum of a modulated random walk whose increments $ξ_n^{X_n}$ are heavy-tailed. Of particular interest is the case where the modulating process $X$ is regenerative. Here we study also the maximum of the recursion given by $W_0=0$ and, for $n\ge1$, $W_n=\max(0,W_{n-1}+ξ_n^{X_n})$
In this article we establish for the superdiffusive regime $p \in (1/2,1)$ that the fluctuations of a general step-reinforced random walk around $a_n \hat{W}$, where $(a_n)_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ is a non-negative sequence of order $n^p$ and $\hat{W}$ is a non-degenerate random variable, is Gaussian. This extends a known result by Kubota and Takei for the elephant random walk to the more general setting of step-reinforced random walks. Further, we provide an application of the asymptotic normality of $\hat{S}$ around $a_n \hat{W}$ to reinforced empirical processes as studied recently by Bertoin, …
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…
We study the distribution of the maximum $M$ of a random walk whose increments have a distribution with negative mean and belonging, for some $γ>0$, to a subclass of the class $\mathcal{S}_γ$--see, for example, Chover, Ney, and Wainger (1973). For this subclass we give a probabilistic derivation of the asymptotic tail distribution of $M$, and show that extreme values of $M$ are in general attained through some single large increment in the random walk near the beginning of its trajectory. We also give some results concerning the ``spatially local'' asymptotics of the distribution of $M$, the m…
Consider a random walk $S=(S_n:n\geq 0)$ that is ``perturbed'' by a stationary sequence $(ξ_n:n\geq 0)$ to produce the process $(S_n+ξ_n:n\geq0)$. This paper is concerned with computing the distribution of the all-time maximum $M_{\infty}=\max \{S_k+ξ_k:k\geq0\}$ of perturbed random walk with a negative drift. Such a maximum arises in several different applications settings, including production systems, communications networks and insurance risk. Our main results describe asymptotics for $\mathbb{P}(M_{\infty}>x)$ as $x\to\infty$. The tail asymptotics depend greatly on whether the $ξ_n$'s are…
We study asymptotic behavior, for large time $n$, of the transition probability of a two-dimensional random walk killed when entering into a non-empty finite subset $A$. We show that it behaves like $4 \tilde u_A(x) \tilde u_{-A}(-y) (\lg n)^{-2} p^n(y- x)$ for large $n$, uniformly in the parabolic regime $|x|\vee |y| =O(\sqrt n)$, where $p^n(y-x)$ is the transition kernel of the random walk (without killing) and $\tilde u_A$ is the unique harmonic function in the 'exterior of $A$' satisfying the boundary condition $\tilde u_A(x) \sim \lg |x|$ at infinity.
Some asymptotic properties of a Brownian motion in multifractal time, also called multifractal random walk, are established. We show the almost sure and $L^1$ convergence of its structure function. This is an issue directly connected to the scale invariance and multifractal property of the sample paths. We place ourselves in a mixed asymptotic setting where both the observation length and the sampling frequency may go together to infinity at different rates. The results we obtain are similar to the ones that were given by Ossiander and Waymire and Bacry \emph{et al.} in the simpler framework o…
We consider an asymptotically stable multidimensional random walk $S(n)=(S_1(n),\ldots, S_d(n) )$. Let $τ_x:=\min\{n>0: x_{1}+S_1(n)\le 0\}$ be the first time the random walk $S(n)$ leaves the upper half-space. We obtain the asymptotics of $p_n(x,y):= P(x+S(n) \in y+Δ, τ_x>n)$ as $n$ tends to infinity, where $Δ$ is a fixed cube. From that we obtain the local asymptotics for the Green function $G(x,y):=\sum_n p_n(x,y)$, as $|y|$ and/or $|x|$ tend to infinity.
We study the asymptotic behaviour of occupation times of a transient random walk in quenched random environment on a strip in a sub-diffusive regime. The asymptotic behaviour of hitting times, which is a more traditional object of study, is the exactly same. As a particular case, we solve a long standing problem of describing the asymptotic behaviour of a random walk with bounded jumps on a one-dimensional lattice