Related papers: Relation between Hitting Times and Probabilities f…

The hitting time is the required minimum time for a Markov chain-based walk (classical or quantum) to reach a target state in the state space. We investigate the effect of the perturbation on the hitting time of a quantum walk. We obtain an…

In the setting of non-reversible Markov chains on finite or countable state space, exact results on the distribution of the first hitting time to a given set $G$ are obtained. A new notion of "strong metastability time" is introduced to…

Hitting times provide a fundamental measure of distance in random processes, quantifying the expected number of steps for a random walk starting at node $u$ to reach node $v$. They have broad applications across domains such as network…

We study the problem of identity testing of markov chains. In this setting, we are given access to a single trajectory from a markov chain with unknown transition matrix $Q$ and the goal is to determine whether $Q = P$ for some known matrix…

It is well known that the distributions of hitting times in Markov chains are quite irregular, unless the limit as time tends to infinity is considered. We show that nevertheless for a typical finite irreducible Markov chain and for…

In this brief note, we find formulas for the distribution and the transition probability matrices of a stochastic process described as a time-reversion in a finite time window of a Markov chain, with cluster observation of the Markov state…

When the initial and transition probabilities of a finite Markov chain in discrete time are not well known, we should perform a sensitivity analysis. This can be done by considering as basic uncertainty models the so-called credal sets that…

This paper concentrates on the minimal hitting probability of continuous-time controlled Markov systems (CTCMSs) with countable state and finite admissible action spaces. The existence of an optimal policy is first proved. In particular,…

This paper studies three kinds of long-term behaviours, namely reachability, repeated reachability and persistence, of quantum Markov chains (qMCs). As a stepping-stone, we introduce the notion of bottom strongly connected component (BSCC)…

We consider moments of the return times (or first hitting times) in a discrete time discrete space Markov chain. It is classical that the finiteness of the first moment of a return time of one state implies the finiteness of the first…

Verification of infinite-state Markov chains is still a challenge despite several fruitful numerical or statistical approaches. For decisive Markov chains, there is a simple numerical algorithm that frames the reachability probability as…

We make use of the Open Quantum Random Walk setting due to S. Attal, F. Petruccione, C. Sabot and I. Sinayskiy [J. Stat. Phys. (2012) 147:832-852] in order to discuss hitting times and a quantum version of the Mean Hitting Time Formula from…

We propose a new approach for estimating the finite dimensional transition matrix of a Markov chain using a large number of independent sample paths observed at random times. The sample paths may be observed as few as two times, and the…

In the absence of acceleration, the velocity formula gives "distance travelled equals speed multiplied by time". For a broad class of Markov chains such as circulant Markov chains or random walk on complete graphs, we prove a probabilistic…

For any discrete target distribution, we exploit the connection between Markov chains and Stein's method via the generator approach and express the solution of Stein's equation in terms of expected hitting time. This yields new upper bounds…

Time-homogeneous Markov chains are often used as disease progression models in studies of cost-effectiveness and optimal decision-making. Maximum likelihood estimation of these models can be challenging when data are collected at a time…

We consider finite irreducible Markov chains. It was shown that mean hitting time from one state to another satisfies the triangle inequality. Hence, sum of mean hitting time between couple of states in both directions is a metric on the…

Quantum walks play an important role in the area of quantum algorithms. Many interesting problems can be reduced to searching marked states in a quantum Markov chain. In this context, the notion of quantum hitting time is very important,…

Suppose X and Y are two independent irreducible Markov chains on n states. We consider the intersection time, which is the first time their trajectories intersect. We show for reversible and lazy chains that the total variation mixing time…

Let $P$ be a bistochastic matrix of size $n$, and let $\Pi$ be a permutation matrix of size $n$. In this paper, we are interested in the mixing time of the Markov chain whose transition matrix is given by $Q=P\Pi$. In other words, the chain…