Related papers: Optimal Mixing via Tensorization for Random Indepe…
In this paper we consider the problem of learning undirected graphical models from data generated according to the Glauber dynamics. The Glauber dynamics is a Markov chain that sequentially updates individual nodes (variables) in a…
In the study of Markov chain mixing times, analysis has centered on the performance from a worst-case starting state. Here, in the context of Glauber dynamics for the one-dimensional Ising model, we show how new ideas from information…
We investigate the problem of sequentially predicting the binary labels on the nodes of an arbitrary weighted graph. We show that, under a suitable parametrization of the problem, the optimal number of prediction mistakes can be…
A concentration graph associated with a random vector is an undirected graph where each vertex corresponds to one random variable in the vector. The absence of an edge between any pair of vertices (or variables) is equivalent to full…
We prove new upper and lower bounds for sample complexity of finding an $\epsilon$-optimal policy of an infinite-horizon average-reward Markov decision process (MDP) given access to a generative model. When the mixing time of the…
We consider the problem of uniformly generating a spanning tree, of a connected undirected graph. This process is useful to compute statistics, namely for phylogenetic trees. We describe a Markov chain for producing these trees. For cycle…
Through a Metropolis-like algorithm with single step computational cost of order one, we build a Markov chain that relaxes to the canonical Fermi statistics for k non-interacting particles among m energy levels. Uniformly over the…
It is well known that Glauber dynamics on spin systems typically suffer exponential slowdowns at low temperatures. This is due to the emergence of multiple metastable phases in the state space, separated by narrow bottlenecks that are hard…
The property of spatial mixing and strong spatial mixing in spin systems has been of interest because of its implications on uniqueness of Gibbs measures on infinite graphs and efficient approximation of counting problems that are otherwise…
We study the problem of maximizing the number of full degree vertices in a spanning tree $T$ of a graph $G$; that is, the number of vertices whose degree in $T$ equals its degree in $G$. In cubic graphs, this problem is equivalent to…
We consider the problem of estimating the expected time to find a maximum degree node on a graph using a (parameterized) biased random walk. For assortative graphs the positive degree correlation serves as a local gradient for which a bias…
A well-known conjecture in computer science and statistical physics is that Glauber dynamics on the set of $k$-colorings of a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with maximum degree $\Delta$ is rapidly mixing for $k \geq \Delta +2$. In FOCS 1999,…
We characterize the extremal structures for mixing walks on trees that start from the most advantageous vertex. Let $G=(V,E)$ be a tree with stationary distribution $\pi$. For a vertex $v \in V$, let $H(v,\pi)$ denote the expected length of…
The problem of efficiently sampling from a set of(undirected) graphs with a given degree sequence has many applications. One approach to this problem uses a simple Markov chain, which we call the switch chain, to perform the sampling. The…
The maximum common subtree isomorphism problem asks for the largest possible isomorphism between subtrees of two given input trees. This problem is a natural restriction of the maximum common subgraph problem, which is ${\sf NP}$-hard in…
Sampling from a high-dimensional distribution is a fundamental task in statistics, engineering, and the sciences. A canonical approach is the Langevin Algorithm, i.e., the Markov chain for the discretized Langevin Diffusion. This is the…
We study asymmetric rank-one spiked tensor models in the high-dimensional regime, where the noise entries are independent and identically distributed with zero mean, unit variance, and finite fourth moment. This extends the classical…
Markov chains are one of the well-known tools for modeling and analyzing stochastic systems. At the same time, they are used for constructing random walks that can achieve a given stationary distribution. This paper is concerned with…
We prove that the continuous-time, single-flip Glauber dynamics for lozenge tilings of the size-$N$ hexagon mix in time $N^{2+o(1)}$. This was predicted to hold on fairly general domains of diameter $N$ (on the basis of the ``Lifshitz law''…
Convergence analysis of Markov chain Monte Carlo methods in high-dimensional statistical applications is increasingly recognized. In this paper, we develop general mixing time bounds for Metropolis-Hastings algorithms on discrete spaces by…