Related papers: A Martingale approach to metastability
The upper extremes of a Markov chain with regulary varying stationary marginal distribution are known to exhibit under general conditions a multiplicative random walk structure called the tail chain. More generally, if the Markov chain is…
This paper proposes a new type of recurrence where we divide the Markov chains into intervals that start when the chain enters into a subset A, then sample another subset B far away from A and end when the chain again return to A. The…
This simple note lays out a few observations which are well known in many ways but may not have been said in quite this way before. The basic idea is that when comparing two different Markov chains it is useful to couple them is such a way…
We study Markov chains for $\alpha$-orientations of plane graphs, these are orientations where the outdegree of each vertex is prescribed by the value of a given function $\alpha$. The set of $\alpha$-orientations of a plane graph has a…
We investigate the metastable behavior of reversible Markov chains on possibly countable infinite state spaces. Based on a new definition of metastable Markov processes, we compute precisely the mean transition time between metastable sets.…
In this paper, we propose a novel stochastic process that serves as a natural discrete-time counterpart to the continuous-time model known as the ``Poisson hyperbolic staircase'' proposed by Levikson et al. (1999), and clarify its…
We explore the cooperative behaviour and phase transitions of interacting networks by studying a simplified model consisting of Ising spins placed on the nodes of two coupled Erd\"os-R\'enyi random graphs. We derive analytical expressions…
Markov chains are fundamental models for stochastic dynamics, with applications in a wide range of areas such as population dynamics, queueing systems, reinforcement learning, and Monte Carlo methods. Estimating the transition matrix and…
We revisit the classical problem of approximating a stochastic differential equation by a discrete-time and discrete-space Markov chain. Our construction iterates Caratheodory's theorem over time to match the moments of the increments…
Perturbation theory for Markov chains addresses the question how small differences in the transitions of Markov chains are reflected in differences between their distributions. We prove powerful and flexible bounds on the distance of the…
We develop a method based on martingales to study first-passage problems of time-additive observables exiting an interval of finite width in a Markov process. In the limit that the interval width is large, we derive generic expressions for…
The goal of this expository paper is to describe conditions which guarantee a central limit theorem for functionals of general state space Markov chains. This is done with a view towards Markov chain Monte Carlo settings and hence the focus…
We study the hitting times of Markov processes to target set $G$, starting from a reference configuration $x_0$ or its basin of attraction. The configuration $x_0$ can correspond to the bottom of a (meta)stable well, while the target $G$…
We use the abstract method of (local) martingale problems in order to give criteria for convergence of stochastic processes. Extending previous notions, the formulation we use is neither restricted to Markov processes (or semimartingales),…
In this paper, we provide a methodology for computing the probability distribution of sojourn times for a wide class of Markov chains. Our methodology consists in writing out linear systems and matrix equations for generating functions…
Improved rates of convergence for ergodic Markov chains and relaxed conditions for them, as well as analogous convergence results for some non-homogeneous Markov chains are studied. The setting from the previous works is extended. Examples…
Many finite-state reversible Markov chains can be naturally decomposed into "projection" and "restriction" chains. In this paper we provide bounds on the total variation mixing times of the original chain in terms of the mixing properties…
We devise a Monte Carlo based method for detecting whether a non-negative Markov chain is stable for a given set of parameter values. More precisely, for a given subset of the parameter space, we develop an algorithm that is capable of…
We formalize and analyze the notions of stochastic monotonicity and realizable mono-tonicity for Markov Chains in continuous-time, taking values in a finite partially ordered set. Similarly to what happens in discrete-time, the two notions…
We study the performance of Markov chains for the $q$-state ferromagnetic Potts model on random regular graphs. It is conjectured that their performance is dictated by metastability phenomena, i.e., the presence of "phases" (clusters) in…