The basic aim of this paper is to study asymptotic properties of the convolution powers K^(n) = K * K * ... * K of a possibly non-symmetric probability density K on a locally compact, compactly generated group G. If K is centered, we show that the Markov operator T associated with K is analytic in L^p(G) for 1<p<\infty, and establish Davies-Gaffney estimates in L^2 for the iterated operators T^n. These results enable us to obtain various Gaussian bounds on K^(n). In particular, when G is a Lie group we recover and extend some estimates of Alexopoulos and of Varopoulos for convolution powers of centered densities and for the heat kernels of centered sublaplacians. Finally, in case G is amenable, we discover that the properties of analyticity or Davies-Gaffney estimates hold only if K is centered.
We investigate Martin boundary for a non-centered random walk on ${\mathbb Z}^d$ killed up on the time $τ_\vartheta$ of the first exit from a convex cone with a vertex at $0$. The approach combines large deviation estimates, the ratio limite theorem and the ladder height process. The results are applied to identify the Martin boundary for a random walk killed upon the first exit from a convex cone having $C^1$ boundary.
We extend the Carne--Varopoulos upper bound on the probability transitions of a Markov chain to a certain class of nonreversible processes by introducing the definition of a ``centering measure.'' In the case of random walks on a group, we study the connections between different notions of centering.
Stein's method is used to approximate sums of discrete and locally dependent random variables by a centered and symmetric Binomial distribution. Under appropriate smoothness properties of the summands, the same order of accuracy as in the Berry-Essen Theorem is achieved. The approximation of the total number of points of a point processes is also considered. The results are applied to the exceedances of the $r$-scans process and to the Matérn hardcore point process type I.
We study some spectral properties of random walks on infinite countable amenable groups with an emphasis on locally finite groups, e.g. the infinite symmetric group. On locally finite groups, the random walks under consideration are driven by infinite divisible distributions. This allows us to embed our random walks into continuous time Lévy processes whose heat kernels have shapes similar to the ones of alpha-stable processes. We obtain examples of fast/slow decays of return probabilities, a recurrence criterion, exact values and estimates of isospectral profiles and spectral distributions, f…
Let $(S_n)_n$ be a $R^d$-valued random walk ($d\geq2$). Using Babillot's method [2], we give general conditions on the characteristic function of $S_n$ under which $(S_n)_n$ satisfies the same renewal theorem as the classical one obtained for random walks with i.i.d. non-centered increments. This statement is applied to additive functionals of strongly ergodic Markov chains under the non-lattice condition and (almost) optimal moment conditions.
Under a natural asumption on the drift, the law of the simple random walk on the multidimensional first quadrant conditioned to always stay in the first octant was obtained by O'Connell in [O]. It coincides with that of the image of the simple random walk under the multidimensional Pitman transform and can be expressed in terms of specializations of Schur functions. This result has been generalized in [LLP1] and [LLP2] for a large class of random walks on weight lattices defined from representations of Kac-Moody algebras and their conditionings to always stay in Weyl chambers. In these various…
In \cite{SzT}, D. Szász and A. Telcs have shown that for the diffusively scaled, simple symmetric random walk, weak convergence to the Brownian motion holds even in the case of local impurities if $d \ge 2$. The extension of their result to finite range random walks is straightforward. Here, however, we are interested in the situation when the random walk has unbounded range. Concretely we generalize the statement of \cite{SzT} to unbounded random walks whose jump distribution belongs to the domain of attraction of the normal law. We do this first: for diffusively scaled random walks on $\math…
We consider a 1-dimensional Brownian motion whose diffusion coefficient varies when it crosses the origin. We study the long time behavior and we establish different regimes, depending on the variations of the diffusion coefficient: emergence of a non-Gaussian mul-tipeaked probability distribution and a dynamical transition to an absorbing static state. We compute the generator and we study the partial differential equation which involves its adjoint. We discuss global existence and blow-up of the solution to this latter equation.
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…
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.
We consider a non-nestling random walk in a product random environment. We assume an exponential moment for the step of the walk, uniformly in the environment. We prove an invariance principle (functional central limit theorem) under almost every environment for the centered and diffusively scaled walk. The main point behind the invariance principle is that the quenched mean of the walk behaves subdiffusively.
We consider a random walk in the plane which takes steps uniformly distributed on the unit circle centered around the walker's current position but avoids the convex hull of its past positions. This model has been introduced by Angel, Benjamini and Virag. We show a large deviation estimate for the distance of the walker from the origin, which implies that the walker has positive lim inf speed.
Let $ξ$ n , n $\in$ N be a sequence of i.i.d. random variables with values in Z. The associated random walk on Z is S(n) = $ξ$ 1 + $\times$ $\times$ $\times$ + $ξ$ n+1 and the corresponding "reflected walk" on N 0 is the Markov chain X(n), n $\in$ N, given by X(0) = x $\in$ N 0 and X(n + 1) = |X(n) + $ξ$ n+1 | for n $\ge$ 0. It is well know that the reflected walk (X(n)) n$\ge$0 is null-recurrent when the $ξ$ n are square integrable and centered. In this paper, we prove that the process (X(n)) n$\ge$0 , properly rescaled, converges in distribution towards the reflected Brownian motion on R + ,…
Let $Γ$ be a countable discrete group, $H$ a lcsc totally disconnected group and $ρ: Γ\rightarrow H$ a homomorphism with dense image. We develop a general and explicit technique which provides, for every compact open subgroup $L < H$ and bi-$L$-invariant probability measure $θ$ on $H$, a Furstenberg discretization $τ$ of $θ$ such that the Poisson boundary of $(H,θ)$ is a $τ$-boundary. Among other things, this technique allows us to construct examples of finitely supported random walks on certain lamplighter groups and solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups, whose Poisson boundaries are prime, but no…
We consider branching random walk in random environment (BRWRE) and prove the existence of deterministic subsequences along which their maximum, centered at its mean, is tight. This partially answers an open question in arXiv:1711.00852. The method of proof adapts an argument developed by Dekking and Host for branching random walks with bounded increments. The question of tightness without the need for subsequences remains open.
Let $S(n)$ be a centered random walk with finite second moment. We consider the integrated random walk $T(n) = S(0)+S(1)+\dots+S(n)$. We prove invariance principles for the meander and for the bridge of this process, under the condition that the integrated random walk remains positive. Furthermore, we prove the functional convergence of its Doob's $h$-transform to the $h$-transform of the Kolmogorov diffusion conditioned to stay positive.
Let $ξ(k,n)$ be the local time of a simple symmetric random walk on the line. We give a strong approximation of the centered local time process $ξ(k,n)-ξ(0,n)$ in terms of a Wiener sheet and an independent Wiener process, time changed by an independent Brownian local time. Some related results and consequences are also established.
We introduce a class of absorption mechanisms and study the behavior of real-valued centered random walks with finite variance that do not get absorbed. In particular, we prove persistence and scaling limit results, which, in many cases of interests, reduce the analysis of the considered situation to well understood classical persistence and scaling limit questions. Our results cover results in Kemperman (1961) and Vysotsky (2015) and can be applied for many more examples.
We consider a multidimensional random walk in a product random environment with bounded steps, transience in some spatial direction, and high enough moments on the regeneration time. We prove an invariance principle, or functional central limit theorem, under almost every environment for the diffusively scaled centered walk. The main point behind the invariance principle is that the quenched mean of the walk behaves subdiffusively.
We continue the line of research of random walks with barrier initiated by Iksanov and M{ö}hle (2008). Assuming that the tail of the step of the underlying random walk has a power-like behavior at infinity with exponent $-α$, $α\in(0,1)$, we prove that the number $V_n$ of zero increments in the random walk with barrier, properly centered and normalized, converges weakly to the standard normal law. This refines previously known weak law of large numbers for $V_n$ proved in Iksanov and Negadailov (2008).
Let $S=(S_k)_{k\geq 0}$ be a random walk on $\mathbb{Z}$ and $ξ=(ξ_{i})_{i\in\mathbb{Z}}$ a stationary random sequence of centered random variables, independent of $S$. We consider a random walk in random scenery that is the sequence of random variables $(Σ_n)_{n\geq 0}$ where $$Σ_n=\sum_{k=0}^n ξ_{S_k}, n\in\mathbb{N}.$$ Under a weak dependence assumption on the scenery $ξ$ we prove a functional limit theorem generalizing Kesten and Spitzer's theorem (1979).
A random walk in random scenery $(Y_n)_{n\in\mathbb{N}}$ is given by $Y_n=ξ_{S_n}$ for a random walk $(S_n)_{n\in\mathbb{N}}$ and iid random variables $(ξ_n)_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}$. In this paper, we will show the weak convergence of the sequential empirical process, i.e. the centered and rescaled empirical distribution function. The limit process shows a new type of behavior, combining properties of the limit in the independent case (roughness of the paths) and in the long range dependent case (self-similarity).
We propose two models of the evolution of a pair of competing populations. Both are lattice based. The first is a compromise between fully spatial models, which do not appear amenable to analytic results, and interacting particle system models, which do not, at present, incorporate all of the competitive strategies that a population might adopt. The second is a simplification of the first, in which competition is only supposed to act within lattice sites and the total population size within each lattice point is a constant. In a special case, this second model is dual to a branching annihilati…
Let $M_{n}$ be the length (number of steps) of the loop-erasure of a simple random walk up to the first exit from a ball of radius $n$ centered at its starting point. It is shown in [18] that there exists $β\in (1, \frac{5}{3}]$ such that $E (M_{n} )$ is of order $n^β$ in 3 dimensions. In the present article, we show that the Hausdorff dimension of the scaling limit of the loop-erased random walk in 3 dimensions is equal to $β$ almost surely.
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.
Random walks in random scenery are processes defined by $$Z_n:=\sum_{k=1}^nω_{S_k}$$ where $S:=(S_k,k\ge 0)$ is a random walk evolving in $\mathbb{Z}^d$ and $ω:=(ω_x, x\in{\mathbb Z}^d)$ is a sequence of i.i.d. real random variables. Under suitable assumptions on the random walk $S$ and the random scenery $ω$, almost surely with respect to $ω$, the correctly renormalized sequence $(Z_n)_{n\geq 1}$ is proved to converge in distribution to a centered Gaussian law with explicit variance.
We show for very general classes of measures on locally compact second countable groups that every Borel measurable quasimorphism is at bounded distance from a quasi-biharmonic one. This allows us to deduce non-degenerate central limit theorems and laws of the iterated logarithm for such quasimorphisms along regular random walks on topological groups using classical martingale limit theorems of Billingsley and Stout. For quasi-biharmonic quasimorphism on countable groups we also obtain integral representations using martingale convergence.
We consider a general discrete-time branching random walk on a countable set X. We relate local, strong local and global survival with suitable inequalities involving the first-moment matrix M of the process. In particular we prove that, while the local behavior is characterized by M, the global behavior cannot be completely described in terms of properties involving M alone. Moreover we show that locally surviving branching random walks can be approximated by sequences of spatially confined and stochastically dominated branching random walks which eventually survive locally if the (possibly f…
A particle moves randomly over the integer points of the real line. Jumps of the particle outside the membrane (a fixed "locally perturbating set") are i.i.d., have zero mean and finite variance, whereas jumps of the particle from the membrane have other distributions with finite means which may be different for different points of the membrane; furthermore, these jumps are mutually independent and independent of the jumps outside the membrane. Assuming that the particle cannot jump over the membrane we prove that the weak scaling limit of the particle position is a skew Brownian motion with p…
The lonely branching random walks on ${\mathbb Z}^d$ is an interacting particle system where each particle moves as an independent random walk and undergoes critical binary branching when it is alone. We show that if the symmetrized walk is recurrent, lonely branching random walks die out locally. Furthermore, the same result holds if additional branching is allowed when the walk is not alone.
Ballistic Speed and Potential-Theoretic Recurrence for Homogeneous Open Quantum Random Walks
Politecnico di Milano（米兰理工大学）；University College, Yonsei University（延世大学校）；United Arab Emirates University（阿联酋大学）；Hankyong National University（韩国汉阳女子大学）
Take a centered random walk S_n and consider the sequence of its partial sums A_n = S_1 + ... + S_n. Suppose S_1 is in the domain of normal attraction of an α-stable law with 1 < α<= 2. Assuming that S_1 is either right-exponential (that is P(S > x | S > 0)=e^{-ax} for some a > 0 and all x > 0) or right-continuous (skip free), we prove that p_N = P(A_1 > 0, ..., A_N > 0) ~ C_αN^{1/(2α) - 1/2} as N tends to infinity, where C_α> 0 depends on the distribution of the walk. We also consider a conditional version of this problem and study positivity of integrated discrete bridges.
We consider branching random walks and contact processes on infinite, connected, locally finite graphs whose reproduction and infectivity rates across edges are inversely proportional to vertex degree. We show that when the ambient graph is a Galton-Watson tree then, in certain circumstances, the branching random walks and contact processes will have weak survival phases. We also provide bounds on critical values.
Motivated by problems in behavioural finance, we provide two explicit constructions of a randomized stopping time which embeds a given centered distribution $μ$ on integers into a simple symmetric random walk in a uniformly integrable manner. Our first construction has a simple Markovian structure: at each step, we stop if an independent coin with a state-dependent bias returns tails. Our second construction is a discrete analogue of the celebrated Azéma-Yor solution and requires independent coin tosses only when excursions away from maximum breach predefined levels. Further, this construction…
We derive a functional central limit theorem for the excursion of a random walk conditioned on sweeping a prescribed geometric area. We assume that the increments of the random walk are integer-valued, centered, with a third moment equal to zero and a finite fourth moment. This result complements the work of \citep{DKW13} where local central limit theorems are provided for the geometric area of the excursion of a symmetric random walk with finite second moments. Our result turns out to be a key tool to derive the scaling limit of the \emph{Interacting Partially-Directed Self-Avoiding Walk} at …
Let $\{Z_n\}_{n\geq 0 }$ be a critical or subcritical $d$-dimensional branching random walk started from a Poisson random measure whose intensity measure is the Lebesugue measure on $\mathbb{R}^d$. Denote by $R_n:=\sup\{u>0:Z_n(\{x\in\mathbb{R}^d:|x|<u\})=0\}$ the radius of the largest empty ball centered at the origin of $Z_n$. In this work, we prove that after suitable renormalization, $R_n$ converges in law to some non-degenerate distribution as $n\to\infty$. Furthermore, our work shows that the renormalization scales depend on the offspring law and the dimension of the branching random wal…
On a locally compact group $E$ with countable base, we consider a random walk $X$ that has a unique (up to a positive factor) $r$-invariant measure for some $r>0$. Under some weak conditions on the measure, there is a unique continuous exponential on $E$ naturally associated with $X$. It follows that there exists an $R$-recurrent random walk in the sense of Tweedie on $E$ if and only if $E$ is a recurrent group and there exists a Harris random walk on~$E$.
We give new criteria for ballistic behavior of random walks in random environment which are perturbations of the simple symmetric random walk on $\mathbb Z^d$ in dimensions $d\ge 4$. Our results extend those of Sznitman [Ann. Probab. 31, no. 1, 285-322 (2003)] and the recent ones of Ramírez and Saglietti [Preprint, arXiv:1808.01523], and allow us to exhibit new examples in dimensions $d\ge 4$ of ballistic random walks which do not satisfy Kalikow's condition. Our criteria implies ballisticity whenever the average of the local drift of the walk is not too small compared with an appropriate mome…
We develop a criterion for transience for a general model of branching Markov chains. In the case of multi-dimensional branching random walk in random environment (BRWRE) this criterion becomes explicit. In particular, we show that \emph{Condition L} of Comets and Popov is necessary and sufficient for transience as conjectured. Furthermore, the criterion applies to two important classes of branching random walks and implies that the critical branching random walk is transient resp. dies out locally.
We study the persistence exponent for the first passage time of a random walk below the trajectory of another random walk. More precisely, let $\{B_n\}$ and $\{W_n\}$ be two centered, weakly dependent random walks. We establish that $\mathbb{P}(\forall_{n\leq N} B_n \geq W_n|W) = N^{-γ+ o(1)}$ for a non-random $γ\geq 1/2$. In the classical setting, $W_n \equiv 0$, it is well-known that $γ= 1/2$. We prove that for any non-trivial $W$ one has $γ>1/2$ and the exponent $γ$ depends only on $\text{Var}(B_1)/\text{Var}(W_1)$. Our result holds also in the continuous setting, when $B$ and $W$ are indep…
Let $S_n$ be a centered random walk with a finite variance, and define the new sequence $A_n:=\sum_{i=1}^n S_i$, which we call an integrated random walk. We are interested in the asymptotics of $$p_N:=P(\min_{1 \le k \le N} A_k \ge 0)$$ as $N \to \infty$. Sinai (1992) proved that $p_N \asymp N^{-1/4}$ if $S_n$ is a simple random walk. We show that $p_N \asymp N^{-1/4}$ for some other types of random walks that include double-sided exponential and double-sided geometric walks, both not necessarily symmetric. We also prove that $p_N \le c N^{-1/4}$ for lattice walks and for upper exponential wal…
We study the asymptotic behaviour of the probability that a weighted sum of centered i.i.d. random variables X_k does not exceed a constant barrier. For regular random walks, the results follow easily from classical fluctuation theory, while this theory does not carry over to weighted random walks, where essentially nothing seems to be known. First we discuss the case of a polynomial weight function and determine the rate of decay of the above probability for Gaussian X_k. This rate is shown to be universal over a larger class of distributions that obey suitable moment conditions. Finally we d…
The Skorokhod Embedding problem is well understood when the underlying process is a Brownian motion. We examine the problem when the underlying is the simple symmetric random walk and when no external randomisation is allowed. We prove that any measure on Z can be embedded by means of a minimal stopping time. However, in sharp contrast to the Brownian setting, we show that the set of measures which can be embedded in a uniformly integrable way is strictly smaller then the set of centered probability measures: specifically it is a fractal set which we characterise as an iterated function system…
