Related papers: Direct sampling of short paths for contiguous part…
We discuss a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) procedure for the random sampling of some one-dimensional lattice paths with constraints, for various constraints. We show that an approach inspired by optimal transport allows us to bound…
The space of connected graph partitions underlies statistical models used as evidence in court cases and reform efforts that analyze political districting plans. In response to the demands of redistricting applications, researchers have…
We consider the problem of generating uniformly random partitions of the vertex set of a graph such that every piece induces a connected subgraph. For the case where we want to have partitions with linearly many pieces of bounded size, we…
We present a Markov chain (Dikin walk) for sampling from a convex body equipped with a self-concordant barrier, whose mixing time from a "central point" is strongly polynomial in the description of the convex set. The mixing time of this…
We give a new rapid mixing result for a natural random walk on the independent sets of a graph $G$. We show that when $G$ has bounded treewidth, this random walk -- known as the Glauber dynamics for the hardcore model -- mixes rapidly for…
The pivot algorithm for self-avoiding walks has been implemented in a manner which is dramatically faster than previous implementations, enabling extremely long walks to be efficiently simulated. We explicitly describe the data structures…
Given a graph $G$, the hard-core model defines a probability distribution over its independent sets, assigning to each set of size $k$ a probability of $\frac{\lambda^k}{Z}$, where $\lambda>0$ is a parameter known as the \emph{fugacity} and…
We present an algorithm, based on the iteration of conformal maps, that produces independent samples of self-avoiding paths in the plane. It is a discrete process approximating radial Schramm-Loewner evolution growing to infinity. We focus…
This article presents SAWdoubler, a package for counting the total number Z(N) of self-avoiding walks (SAWs) on a regular lattice by the length-doubling method, of which the basic concept has been published previously by us. We discuss an…
We investigate a model of continuous-time simple random walk paths in $\mathbb{Z}^d$ undergoing two competing interactions: an attractive one towards the large values of a random potential, and a self-repellent one in the spirit of the…
We show a connection between sampling and optimization on discrete domains. For a family of distributions $\mu$ defined on size $k$ subsets of a ground set of elements that is closed under external fields, we show that rapid mixing of…
We present a Monte Carlo method that allows efficient and unbiased sampling of Hamiltonian walks on a cubic lattice. Such walks are self-avoiding and visit each lattice site exactly once. They are often used as simple models of globular…
Importance sampling of trajectories has proved a uniquely successful strategy for exploring rare dynamical behaviors of complex systems in an unbiased way. Carrying out this sampling, however, requires an ability to propose changes to…
An influential result by Dor, Halperin, and Zwick (FOCS 1996, SICOMP 2000) implies an algorithm that can compute approximate shortest paths for all vertex pairs in $\tilde{O}(n^{2+O\left(\frac{1}{k}\right )})$ time, ensuring that the output…
Many classical randomized algorithms (e.g., approximation algorithms for #P-complete problems) utilize the following random walk algorithm for {\em almost uniform sampling} from a state space $S$ of cardinality $N$: run a symmetric ergodic…
We survey recent results concerning the total-variation mixing time of the simple exclusion process on the segment (symmetric and asymmetric) and a continuum analog, the simple random walk on the simplex with an emphasis on cutoff results.…
Most approximation algorithms for #P-complete problems (e.g., evaluating the permanent of a matrix or the volume of a polytope) work by reduction to the problem of approximate sampling from a distribution $\pi$ over a large set $\S$. This…
We introduce a Markov chain for sampling from the uniform distribution on a Riemannian manifold $\mathcal{M}$, which we call the $\textit{geodesic walk}$. We prove that the mixing time of this walk on any manifold with positive sectional…
By viewing the $N$-simplex as the set of positions of $N-1$ ordered particles on the unit interval, the adjacent walk is the continuous time Markov chain obtained by updating independently at rate 1 the position of each particle with a…
Markov jump processes (or continuous-time Markov chains) are a simple and important class of continuous-time dynamical systems. In this paper, we tackle the problem of simulating from the posterior distribution over paths in these models,…