Related papers: On the approximation of one Markov chain by anothe…
We give an example of a transient reversible Markov chain that almost surely has only a finite number of cutpoints. We explain how this is relevant to a conjecture of Diaconis and Freedman and a question of Kaimanovich. We also answer…
Markov chain approximations of symmetric jump processes are investigated. Tightness results and a central limit theorem are established. Moreover, given the generator of a symmetric jump process with state space $\mathbbm{R}^d$ the…
We study approximations of evolving probability measures by an interacting particle system. The particle system dynamics is a combination of independent Markov chain moves and importance sampling/resampling steps. Under global regularity…
We consider two types of discrete-time Markov chains where the state space is a graded poset and the transitions are taken along the covering relations in the poset. The first type of Markov chain goes only in one direction, either up or…
Markov chains are an important example for a course on stochastic processes because simple board games can be used to illustrate the fundamental concepts. For example, a looping board game (like Monopoly) consists of all recurrent states,…
We introduce $(\varepsilon, \delta)$-bisimulation, a novel type of approximate probabilistic bisimulation for continuous-time Markov chains. In contrast to related notions, $(\varepsilon, \delta)$-bisimulation allows the use of different…
It is known that state-dependent, multi-step Lyapunov bounds lead to greatly simplified verification theorems for stability for large classes of Markov chain models. This is one component of the "fluid model" approach to stability of…
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 consider continuous-time Markov chains which display a family of wells at the same depth. We provide sufficient conditions which entail the convergence of the finite-dimensional distributions of the order parameter to the ones of a…
We elaborate the idea behind Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods in a mathematically coherent, yet simple and understandable way. To this end, we proof a pivotal convergence theorem for finite Markov chains and a minimal version of the…
For a stochastically monotone Markov chain taking values in a Polish space, we present a number of conditions for existence and for uniqueness of its stationary regime, as well as for closeness of its transient trajectories. In particular,…
A general criterion is given for when a Markov chain trapped with probability p(x) in state x will be almost surely trapped. The quenched (state x is a trap forever with probability p(x)) and annealed (state x traps with probability p(x) on…
We consider continuous-space, discrete-time Markov chains on $\mathbb{R}^d$, that admit a finite number $N$ of metastable states. Our main motivation for investigating these processes is to analyse random Poincar\'e maps, which describe…
In this short paper, we consider discrete-time Markov chains on lattices as approximations to continuous-time diffusion processes. The approximations can be interpreted as finite difference schemes for the generator of the process. We…
Approximating the stationary probability of a state in a Markov chain through Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques is, in general, inefficient. Standard random walk approaches require $\tilde{O}(\tau/\pi(v))$ operations to approximate the…
We prove an analog of the classical Zero-One Law for both homogeneous and nonhomogeneous Markov chains (MC). Its almost precise formulation is simple: given any event $A$ from the tail $\sigma$-algebra of MC $(Z_n)$, for large $n$, with…
In many situations it is important to be able to propose $N$ independent realizations of a given distribution law. We propose a strategy for making $N$ parallel Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) interact in order to get an approximation of…
We consider continuous-time Markov chain on a finite state space X. We assume X can be clustered into several subsets such that the intra-transition rates within these subsets are of order $\mathcal{O}(\frac{1}{\epsilon})$ comparing to the…
We develop a general theory of Markov chains realizable as random walks on $\mathscr R$-trivial monoids. It provides explicit and simple formulas for the eigenvalues of the transition matrix, for multiplicities of the eigenvalues via…
In the investigation of limits of Markov chains, the presence of states which become instantaneous states in the limit may prevent the convergence of the chain in the Skorohod topology. We present in this article a weaker topology adapted…