1 Search Results for "Georgakopoulos, Agelos"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2020.76
Choice and Bias in Random Walks

Authors: Agelos Georgakopoulos, John Haslegrave, Thomas Sauerwald, and John Sylvester

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 151, 11th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2020)

Abstract
We analyse the following random walk process inspired by the power-of-two-choice paradigm: starting from a given vertex, at each step, unlike the simple random walk (SRW) that always moves to a randomly chosen neighbour, we have the choice between two uniformly and independently chosen neighbours. We call this process the choice random walk (CRW). We first prove that for any graph, there is a strategy for the CRW that visits any given vertex in expected time ?(|E|). Then we introduce a general tool that quantifies by how much the probability of a rare event in the simple random walk can be boosted under a suitable CRW strategy. We believe this result to be of independent interest, and apply it here to derive an almost optimal ?(n log log n) bound for the cover time of bounded-degree expanders. This tool also applies to so-called biased walks, and allows us to make progress towards a conjecture of Azar et al. [STOC 1992]. Finally, we prove the following dichotomy: computing an optimal strategy to minimise the hitting time of a vertex takes polynomial time, whereas computing one to minimise the cover time is NP-hard.
Cite as

Agelos Georgakopoulos, John Haslegrave, Thomas Sauerwald, and John Sylvester. Choice and Bias in Random Walks. In 11th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 151, pp. 76:1-76:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{georgakopoulos_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2020.76,
  author =	{Georgakopoulos, Agelos and Haslegrave, John and Sauerwald, Thomas and Sylvester, John},
  title =	{{Choice and Bias in Random Walks}},
  booktitle =	{11th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2020)},
  pages =	{76:1--76:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-134-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{151},
  editor =	{Vidick, Thomas},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2020.76},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-117612},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2020.76},
  annote =	{Keywords: Power of Two Choices, Markov Chains, Random Walks, Cover Time, Markov Decision Processes}
}
  • Refine by Author
  • 1 Georgakopoulos, Agelos
  • 1 Haslegrave, John
  • 1 Sauerwald, Thomas
  • 1 Sylvester, John

  • Refine by Classification
  • 1 Mathematics of computing → Stochastic processes
  • 1 Theory of computation → Random walks and Markov chains

  • Refine by Keyword
  • 1 Cover Time
  • 1 Markov Chains
  • 1 Markov Decision Processes
  • 1 Power of Two Choices
  • 1 Random Walks

  • Refine by Type
  • 1 document

  • Refine by Publication Year
  • 1 2020

Questions / Remarks / Feedback
X

Feedback for Dagstuhl Publishing


Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail
© 2023-2024 Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH Imprint Privacy Contact