Related papers: Topics in Markov chains: mixing and escape rate

We investigate the problem of quantifying contraction coefficients of Markov transition kernels in Kantorovich ($L^1$ Wasserstein) distances. For diffusion processes, relatively precise quantitative bounds on contraction rates have recently…

We present a novel approach to quantizing Markov chains. The approach is based on the Markov chain coupling method, which is frequently used to prove fast mixing. Given a particular coupling, e.g., a grand coupling, we construct a…

We present a novel method for computing reachability probabilities of parametric discrete-time Markov chains whose transition probabilities are fractions of polynomials over a set of parameters. Our algorithm is based on two key…

Consider a Markov process \omega_t at equilibrium and some event C (a subset of the state-space of the process). A natural measure of correlations in the process is the pairwise correlation \Pr[\omega_0,\omega_t \in C] - \Pr[\omega_0 \in…

In this paper we investigate the continuum limits of a class of Markov chains. The investigation of such limits is motivated by the desire to model very large networks. We show that under some conditions, a sequence of Markov chains…

We present a Markov chain example where non-reversibility and an added edge jointly improve mixing time: when a random edge is added to a cycle of $n$ vertices and a Markov chain with a drift is introduced, we get mixing time of…

The hitting and mixing times are two fundamental quantities associated with Markov chains. In Peres and Sousi[PS2015] and Oliveira[Oli2012], the authors show that the mixing times and "worst-case" hitting times of reversible Markov chains…

In this paper we study various properties of finite stochastic systems or hidden Markov chains as they are alternatively called. We discuss their construction following different approaches and we also derive recursive filtering formulas…

Switching dynamical systems are an expressive model class for the analysis of time-series data. As in many fields within the natural and engineering sciences, the systems under study typically evolve continuously in time, it is natural to…

We study normal approximations for a class of discrete-time occupancy processes, namely, Markov chains with transition kernels of product Bernoulli form. This class encompasses numerous models which appear in the complex networks…

We present a novel algorithm to solve a non-linear system of equations, whose solution can be interpreted as a tight lower bound on the vector of expected hitting times of a Markov chain whose transition probabilities are only partially…

We derive and analyze learning algorithms for apprenticeship learning, policy evaluation, and policy gradient for average reward criteria. Existing algorithms explicitly require an upper bound on the mixing time. In contrast, we build on…

We consider continuous-time Markov chains on integers which allow transitions to adjacent states only, with alternating rates. We give explicit formulas for probability generating functions, and also for means, variances and state…

We study the continuous one-dimensional hard-sphere model and present irreversible local Markov chains that mix on faster time scales than the reversible heatbath or Metropolis algorithms. The mixing time scales appear to fall into two…

The problem of missing mass in statistical inference (posed by McAllester and Ortiz, NIPS'02; most recently revisited by Changa and Thangaraj, ISIT'2019) seeks to estimate the weight of symbols that have not been sampled yet from a source.…

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 present new concentration of measure inequalities for Markov chains, generalising results for chains that are contracting in Wasserstein distance. These are particularly suited to establishing the cut-off phenomenon for suitable chains.…

Markov chains have long been used for generating random variates from spatial point processes. Broadly speaking, these chains fall into two categories: Metropolis-Hastings type chains running in discrete time and spatial birth-death chains…

The problem of estimating an unknown discrete distribution from its samples is a fundamental tenet of statistical learning. Over the past decade, it attracted significant research effort and has been solved for a variety of divergence…

In this paper, we analyze the number of departures from an initially empty $M/M/\infty$ system in a finite time interval. We observe the system during an exponentially distributed period of time starting from the time origin. We then…