arXiv subjects

Kilian Raschel

Publications and source records attributed to Kilian Raschel.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Random walks in the quarter plane, discrete harmonic functions and conformal mappings

We propose a new approach for finding discrete harmonic functions in the quarter plane with Dirichlet conditions. It is based on solving functional equations that are satisfied by the generating functions of the values taken by the harmonic functions. As a first application of our results, we obtain a simple expression for the harmonic function that governs the asymptotic tail distribution of the first exit time for random walks from the quarter plane. As another corollary, we prove, in the zero drift case, the uniqueness of the discrete harmonic function.

math.PR↗

arXiv2013

Non-D-finite excursions in the quarter plane

The number of excursions (finite paths starting and ending at the origin) having a given number of steps and obeying various geometric constraints is a classical topic of combinatorics and probability theory. We prove that the sequence $(e^{\mathfrak{S}}_n)_{n\geq 0}$ of numbers of excursions in the quarter plane corresponding to a nonsingular step set $\mathfrak{S} \subseteq \{0,\pm 1 \}^2$ with infinite group does not satisfy any nontrivial linear recurrence with polynomial coefficients. Accordingly, in those cases, the trivariate generating function of the numbers of walks with given length and prescribed ending point is not D-finite. Moreover, we display the asymptotics of $e^{\mathfrak{S}}_n$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Passage time from four to two blocks of opinions in the voter model and walks in the quarter plane

A random walk in $Z_+^2$ spatially homogeneous in the interior, absorbed at the axes, starting from an arbitrary point $(i_0,j_0)$ and with step probabilities drawn on Figure 1 is considered. The trivariate generating function of probabilities that the random walk hits a given point $(i,j)\in Z_+^2$ at a given time $k\geq 0$ is made explicit. Probabilities of absorption at a given time $k$ and at a given axis are found, and their precise asymptotic is derived as the time $k\to\infty$. The equivalence of two typical ways of conditioning this random walk to never reach the axes is established. The results are also applied to the analysis of the voter model with two candidates and initially, in the population $Z$, four connected blocks of same opinions. Then, a citizen changes his mind at a rate proportional to the number of its neighbors that disagree with him. Namely, the passage from four to two blocks of opinions is studied.

math.PR↗

arXiv2013

Some aspects of fluctuations of random walks on R and applications to random walks on R+ with non-elastic reflection at 0

In this article we refine well-known results concerning the fluctuations of one-dimensional random walks. More precisely, if $(S_n)_{n \geq 0}$ is a random walk starting from 0 and $r\geq 0$, we obtain the precise asymptotic behavior as $n\to\infty$ of $\mathbb P[τ^{>r}=n, S_n\in K]$ and $\mathbb P[τ^{>r}>n, S_n\in K]$, where $τ^{>r}$ is the first time that the random walk reaches the set $]r,\infty[$, and $K$ is a compact set. Our assumptions on the jumps of the random walks are optimal. Our results give an answer to a question of Lalley stated in [9], and are applied to obtain the asymptotic behavior of the return probabilities for random walks on $\mathbb R^+$ with non-elastic reflection at 0.

math.PR↗

arXiv2013

Some exact asymptotics in the counting of walks in the quarter-plane

Enumeration of planar lattice walks is a classical topic in combinatorics, at the cross-roads of several domains (e.g., probability, statistical physics, computer science). The aim of this paper is to propose a new approach to obtain some exact asymptotics for walks confined to the quarter plane.

math.PR↗

arXiv2012

On the functions counting walks with small steps in the quarter plane

Models of spatially homogeneous walks in the quarter plane ${\bf Z}_+^{2}$ with steps taken from a subset $\mathcal{S}$ of the set of jumps to the eight nearest neighbors are considered. The generating function $(x,y,z)\mapsto Q(x,y;z)$ of the numbers $q(i,j;n)$ of such walks starting at the origin and ending at $(i,j) \in {\bf Z}_+^{2}$ after $n$ steps is studied. For all non-singular models of walks, the functions $x \mapsto Q(x,0;z)$ and $y\mapsto Q(0,y;z)$ are continued as multi-valued functions on ${\bf C}$ having infinitely many meromorphic branches, of which the set of poles is identified. The nature of these functions is derived from this result: namely, for all the 51 walks which admit a certain infinite group of birational transformations of ${\bf C}^2$, the interval $]0,1/|\mathcal{S}|[$ of variation of $z$ splits into two dense subsets such that the functions $x \mapsto Q(x,0;z)$ and $y\mapsto Q(0,y;z)$ are shown to be holonomic for any $z$ from the one of them and non-holonomic for any $z$ from the other. This entails the non-holonomy of $(x,y,z)\mapsto Q(x,y;z)$, and therefore proves a conjecture of Bousquet-Mélou and Mishna.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

The compensation approach for walks with small steps in the quarter plane

This paper is the first application of the compensation approach to counting problems. We discuss how this method can be applied to a general class of walks in the quarter plane $Z_{+}^{2}$ with a step set that is a subset of $\{(-1,1),(-1,0),(-1,-1),(0,-1),(1,-1)\}$ in the interior of $Z_{+}^{2}$. We derive an explicit expression for the counting generating function, which turns out to be meromorphic and nonholonomic, can be easily inverted, and can be used to obtain asymptotic expressions for the counting coefficients.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

Random walks reaching against all odds the other side of the quarter plane

For a homogeneous random walk in the quarter plane with nearest-neighbor transitions, starting from some state $(i_0,j_0)$, we study the event that the walk reaches the vertical axis, before reaching the horizontal axis. We derive an exact expression for the probability of this event, and derive an asymptotic expression for the case when $i_0$ becomes large, a situation in which the event becomes highly unlikely. The exact expression follows from the solution of a boundary value problem and is in terms of an integral that involves a conformal gluing function. The asymptotic expression follows from the asymptotic evaluation of this integral. Our results find applications in a model for nucleosome shifting, the voter model and the asymmetric exclusion process.

math.PR↗

arXiv2012

Extinction probabilities for a distylous plant population modeled by an inhomogeneous random walk on the positive quadrant

In this paper, we study a flower population in which self-reproduction is not permitted. Individuals are diploid, {that is, each cell contains two sets of chromosomes}, and {distylous, that is, two alleles, A and a, can be found at the considered locus S}. Pollen and ovules of flowers with the same genotype at locus S cannot mate. This prevents the pollen of a given flower to fecundate its {own} stigmata. Only genotypes AA and Aa can be maintained in the population, so that the latter can be described by a random walk in the positive quadrant whose components are the number of individuals of each genotype. This random walk is not homogeneous and its transitions depend on the location of the process. We are interested in the computation of the extinction probabilities, {as} extinction happens when one of the axis is reached by the process. These extinction probabilities, which depend on the initial condition, satisfy a doubly-indexed recurrence equation that cannot be solved directly. {Our contribution is twofold : on the one hand, we obtain an explicit, though intricate, solution through the study of the PDE solved by the associated generating function. On the other hand, we provide numerical results comparing stochastic and deterministic approximations of the extinction probabilities.

math.PR↗

arXiv2011

Random walks in the quarter plane with zero drift: an explicit criterion for the finiteness of the associated group

In many recent studies on random walks with small jumps in the quarter plane, it has been noticed that the so-called "group" of the walk governs the behavior of a number of quantities, in particular through its "order". In this paper, when the "drift" of the random walk is equal to 0, we provide an effective criterion giving the order of this group. More generally, we also show that in all cases where the "genus" of the algebraic curve defined by the kernel is 0, the group is infinite, except precisely for the zero drift case, where finiteness is quite possible.

math.PR↗

arXiv2011

Counting walks in a quadrant: a unified approach via boundary value problems

The aim of this article is to introduce a unified method to obtain explicit integral representations of the trivariate generating function counting the walks with small steps which are confined to a quarter plane. For many models, this yields for the first time an explicit expression of the counting generating function. Moreover, the nature of the integrand of the integral formulations is shown to be directly dependent on the finiteness of a naturally attached group of birational transformations as well as on the sign of the covariance of the walk

math.CO↗

arXiv2010

Green functions and Martin compactification for killed random walks related to SU(3)

We consider the random walks killed at the boundary of the quarter plane, with homogeneous non-zero jump probabilities to the eight nearest neighbors and drift zero in the interior, and which admit a positive harmonic polynomial of degree three. For these processes, we find the asymptotic of the Green functions along all infinite paths of states, and from this we deduce that the Martin compactification is the one-point compactification.

math.PR↗

arXiv2010

Green functions for killed random walks in the Weyl chamber of Sp(4)

We consider a family of random walks killed at the boundary of the Weyl chamber of the dual of $\rm{Sp}(4)$, which in addition satisfies the following property: for any $n\geq 3$, there is in this family a walk associated with a reflection group of order $2n$. Moreover, the case $n=4$ corresponds to a process which appears naturally by studying quantum random walks on the dual of $\rm{Sp}(4)$. For all the processes belonging to this family, we find the exact asymptotic of the Green functions along all infinite paths of states as well as that of the absorption probabilities along the boundaries.

math.PR↗

arXiv2010

Explicit expression for the generating function counting Gessel's walks

Gessel's walks are the planar walks that move within the positive quadrant $\mathbb{Z}_{+}^{2}$ by unit steps in any of the following directions: West, North-East, East and South-West. In this paper, we find an explicit expression for the trivariate generating function counting the Gessel's walks with $k\geq 0$ steps, which start at $(0,0)$ and end at a given point $(i,j) \in \mathbb{Z}^2_+$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2010

On the Holonomy or Algebraicity of Generating Functions Counting Lattice Walks in the Quarter-Plane

In two recent works \cite{BMM,BK}, it has been shown that the counting generating functions (CGF) for the 23 walks with small steps confined in a quadrant and associated with a finite group of birational transformations are holonomic, and even algebraic in 4 cases -- in particular for the so-called Gessel's walk. It turns out that the type of functional equations satisfied by these CGF appeared in a probabilistic context almost 40 years ago. Then a method of resolution was proposed in \cite{FIM}, involving at once algebraic tools and a reduction to boundary value problems. Recently this method has been developed in a combinatorics framework in \cite{Ra}, where a thorough study of the explicit expressions for the CGF is proposed. The aim of this paper is to derive the nature of the bivariate CGF by a direct use of some general theorems given in \cite{FIM}.

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Random walks in $(\mathbb{Z}_+)^2$ with non-zero drift absorbed at the axes

Spatially homogeneous random walks in $(\mathbb{Z}_{+})^{2}$ with non-zero jump probabilities at distance at most 1, with non-zero drift in the interior of the quadrant and absorbed when reaching the axes are studied. Absorption probabilities generating functions are obtained and the asymptotic of absorption probabilities along the axes is made explicit. The asymptotic of the Green functions is computed along all different infinite paths of states, in particular along those approaching the axes.

math.PR↗

arXiv2009

Random Walks in the Quarter Plane Absorbed at the Boundary : Exact and Asymptotic

Nearest neighbor random walks in the quarter plane that are absorbed when reaching the boundary are studied. The cases of positive and zero drift are considered. Absorption probabilities at a given time and at a given site are made explicit. The following asymptotics for these random walks starting from a given point $(n_0,m_0)$ are computed : that of probabilities of being absorbed at a given site $(i,0)$ [resp. $(0,j)$] as $i\to \infty$ [resp. $j \to \infty$], that of the distribution's tail of absorption time at x-axis [resp. y-axis], that of the Green functions at site $(i,j)$ when $i,j\to \infty$ and $j/i \to \tan γ$ for $γ\in [0, π/2]$. These results give the Martin boundary of the process and in particular the suitable Doob $h$-transform in order to condition the process never to reach the boundary. They also show that this $h$-transformed process is equal in distribution to the limit as $n\to \infty$ of the process conditioned by not being absorbed at time $n$. The main tool used here is complex analysis.

math.PR↗