English

Expected hitting time estimates on finite graphs

Probability 2023-12-05 v1

Abstract

The expected hitting time from vertex aa to vertex bb, H(a,b)H(a,b), is the expected value of the time it takes a random walk starting at aa to reach bb. In this paper, we give estimates for H(a,b)H(a,b) when the distance between aa and bb is comparable to the diameter of the graph, and the graph satisfies a Harnack condition. We show that, in such cases, H(a,b)H(a,b) can be estimated in terms of the volumes of balls around bb. Using our results, we estimate H(a,b)H(a,b) on various graphs, such as rectangular tori, some convex traces in Zd\mathbb{Z}^d, and fractal graphs. Our proofs use heat kernel estimates.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2312.01803,
  title  = {Expected hitting time estimates on finite graphs},
  author = {Laurent Saloff-Coste and Yuwen Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.01803},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

24 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T13:40:12.873Z