Two-Dimensional Random Walk: From Path Counting to Random Interlacements (Institute of Mathematical Statistics Textbooks) - Hardcover

Popov, Serguei

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1108472451 ISBN 13: 9781108472456

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2021

Synopsis

The main subject of this introductory book is simple random walk on the integer lattice, with special attention to the two-dimensional case. This fascinating mathematical object is the point of departure for an intuitive and richly illustrated tour of related topics at the active edge of research. It starts with three different proofs of the recurrence of the two-dimensional walk, via direct combinatorial arguments, electrical networks, and Lyapunov functions. After reviewing some relevant potential-theoretic tools, the reader is guided toward the relatively new topic of random interlacements - which can be viewed as a 'canonical soup' of nearest-neighbour loops through infinity - again with emphasis on two dimensions. On the way, readers will visit conditioned simple random walks - which are the 'noodles' in the soup - and also discover how Poisson processes of infinite objects are constructed and review the recently introduced method of soft local times. Each chapter ends with many exercises, making it suitable for courses and independent study.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108472451
• ISBN 13: 9781108472456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200