We study two deterministic analogues of random walks. The first is the chip-firing game, a single player game played by moving chips around a directed graph, popularised by Björner and Lovász. We find an efficient simulation of boolean circuits and Turing machines using instances of the chip-firing game - after assigning a fixed strategy to the player. The second is the Propp machine, or the rotor router model, a quasirandom model intro- duced by Priezzhev. We improve results of Kijima et al. and show a bound of O(m) on the discrepancy of this process from a random walk on d-regular graphs with m edges. 1

This research assessed wildfire mitigation and risk perceptions in two neighborhood in Colorado Springs, CO. Semi-structured interviews were used during transect walks with participants. The research compared residents' perspectives to fire personnel's knowledge.

In the present thesis, we investigate representations of Cuntz algebras coming from dilations of row co-isometries. First, we give some general results about such representations. Next, we show that by labeling a random walk, a row co-isometry appears naturally. We give an explicit form for representations that come from such random walks. Then, we give some conditions relating to the reducibility of these representations, exploring how properties of a random walk relate to the Cuntz algebra representation that comes from it

No description available.

This dissertation studies systems of "competing" discrete random walks as discrete and continuous time processes. A system is thought of as containing n imaginary particles performing random walks on lines parallel to the x-axis in Cartesian space. The particles act completely independently of each other and have, in general, different starting coordinates. In the discrete time situation, the motion of the n particles is governed by n independent streams of Bernoulli trials with success probabilities p₁, p₂,…, and p_n respectively. A success for any particle at a trial causes that particle to move one unit toward the origin, and a failure causes it to take a "zero-step" (i.e. remain stationary). A probabilistic description is first given of the positions of the particles at arbitrary points in time, and this is extended to provide time dependent and independent probabilities of which particle is the winner, that is to say, of which particle first reaches the origin. In this case "draws" are possible and the relevant probabilities are derived. The results are expressed, in particular, in terms of Generalized Hypergeometric Functions. In addition, formulae are given for the duration of what may now be regarded as a race with winning post at the origin. In the continuous time situation, the motion of the n particles is governed by n independent Poisson streams, in general, having different parameters. A treatment similar to that for the discrete time situation is given with the exception of draw probabilities which in this case are not possible. Approximations are obtained in many cases. Apart from their practical utility, these give insight into the operation of the systems in that they reveal how changes in one or more of the parameters may affect the win and draw probabilities and also the duration of the race. A chapter is devoted to practical applications. Here it is shown how the theory of random walks racing toward the origin can be utilized as a basic framework for explaining the operation of, and answering pertinent questions concerning several apparently diverse situations. Examples are Lanchester Combat theory, inventory control, reliability and queueing theory. / Ph. D.

This thesis studies two Markov processes describing the evolution of a system of many interacting random components. These processes undergo an absorbing-state phase transition, i.e., as one variates the parameter values, the process exhibits a transition from a convergence regime to one of the absorbing-states to an active regime. In Chapter 2 we study Activated Random Walk, which is an interacting particle system where the particles can be of two types and their number is conserved. Firstly, we provide a new lower bound for the critical density on Z as a function of the jump distribution and of the sleeping rate and we prove that the critical density is not a constant function of the jump distribution. Secondly, we prove that on Zd in the case of biased jump distribution the critical density is strictly less than one, provided that the sleeping rate is small enough. This answers a question that has been asked by Dickman, Rolla, Sidoravicius [9, 28] in the case of biased jump distribution. Our results have been presented in [33]. In Chapter 3 we study a class of probabilistic cellular automata which are related by a natural coupling to a special type of oriented percolation model. Firstly, we consider the process on a finite torus of size n, which is ergodic for any parameter value. By employing dynamic-renormalization techniques, we prove that the average absorption time grows exponentially (resp. logarithmically) with n when the model on Z is in the active (resp. absorbing) regime. This answers a question that has been asked by Toom [37]. Secondly, we study how the neighbourhood of the model affects the critical probability for the process on Z. We provide a lower bound for the critical probability as a function of the neighbourhood and we show that our estimates are sharp by comparing them with our numerical estimates. Our results have been presented in [34, 35].

O estudo de caminhadas aleatórias em meios desordenados e um assunto bastante explorado e pode modelar uma grande variedade de problemas, como por exemplo, problemas de transporte (difusão). O estudo de caminhadas determinísticas em meios desordenados é um assunto pouco explorado. Em uma paisagem composta de N sítios distribuídos aleatoriamente no espaço, um caminhante ("turista") visita estes sítios seguindo a seguinte regra determinística: ir para o sítio vizinho mais próximo que não tenha sido visitado nos últimos passos. De cada sítio inicial, a trajetória obtida com esta dinâmica determinística apresenta inicialmente um tempo de transiente t, onde novos sítios são visitados, e no final um atrator de período p, onde os mesmos sítios são sempre revisitados. Apesar da simplicidade do modelo, a dinâmica e complexa e os resultados não são triviais. Para dimensionalidades d = 2, a distribuição de atratores de período p, obtida numericamente, pode ser descrita por uma lei de potência com um corte exponencial. Os modelos de ligações aleatórias simétricas (que representa o limite de alta dimensionalidade d = 1 do modelo proposto) e assimétricas indicam que o corte exponencial se torna menos importante à medida que N aumenta. O expoente da lei de potência independe da memória tau, sendo portanto uma distribuição robusta. A dinâmica do turista pode ser aplicada a problemas mais abstratos, onde apenas relações de ordem entre vizinhos são dados. O estudo (por amostragem) da estrutura de um dicionário de sinônimos e um exemplo que foi considerado. Mostrou-se que as palavras podem ser embebidas em um espaço Euclidiano de baixa dimensionalidade.Este resultado concorda com um recente estudo exaustivo realizado e questiona o modelo de análise semântica latente. Com a finalidade de entender a transição entre uma caminhada determinística e uma caminhada aleatória, generalizou-se o problema com memória nula designando uma distribuição de probabilidades para o turista visitar os diversos sítios. Esta distribuição e parametrizada por uma variável externa T (temperatura) de modo que para T = 0 têm-se a caminhada do turista como caso limite e para T tendendo para infinito todos os sítios são visitados com igual probabilidade. Resultados analíticos (d = 1) e numéricos mostram a existência de uma região bem delimitada de transição entre os regimes não-ergódico (baixa temperatura) e ergódico (alta temperatura). Uma analogia é estabelecida com o modelo de vidros de Bouchaud. A eficiência da caminhada com relação aos novos sítios visitados, foi estudada e ela e máxima na borda da aleatoriedade, ou seja, ao redor da temperatura de transição. / The study of random walks in disordered media is one well-developed subject and it can model a great variety of problems, for instance, problems of transport (diffusion). The study of deterministic walks in disordered media is a subject not too explored. In a landscape composed of N sites randomly distributed in of, a walker ("tourist") visits these sites following the deterministic rule: going to the nearest site that has not been visited in the last tau steps. From each initial site, the trajectory, obtained with this deterministic dynamics, presents initially a time transient t, where new sites are visited, and, in the end, a p-period attractor, where the same sites are always revisited. In spite of the simplicity of the model, the dynamics is complex and the results are not trivial. For dimensionalities d = 2, the distribution of p-period obtained numerically can be described by a power law with an exponential cut. The models of symmetrical random connections (that represents the limit of high dimensionality d = 1 of the proposed model) and asymmetrical random connections indicate that the exponential cut turns out to be less important as N increases. The exponent law of the power law does not depend on the memory tau, being therefore a robust distribution. The tourist dynamics can be applied to more abstract problems, where just relationships of neighbor order are given. The study (by sampling) of the structure of a dictionary of synonyms has been considered. It has been shown that the words can be embedded in an Euclidean space of low dimensionality. This result agrees with a recent exhaustive study accomplished and it challenges the model of latent semantic analysis. With the purpose of understanding the transition between a deterministic and a random walk a generalization of the problem, with null memory has been performed by designating a distribution of probabilities for the tourist to visit the several sites. This distribution has the external variable T (temperature) as a parameter so that, when T = 0 it has the tourist walk as a limiting case and for T tending to infinity all of the sites are visited ith equal probability. Analytical numerical results (d = 1) show the existence of well delimited transition between non-ergodic (low temperature) and ergodic (high temperature) regime. An analogy is established Bouchaud glass model. The walk efficiency, regarding the new visited sites to trajectory length, has been studied and it is maximum at the edge of stochasticity, in other words, around the temperature of transition.

O estudo de caminhadas aleatórias em meios desordenados e um assunto bastante explorado e pode modelar uma grande variedade de problemas, como por exemplo, problemas de transporte (difusão). O estudo de caminhadas determinísticas em meios desordenados é um assunto pouco explorado. Em uma paisagem composta de N sítios distribuídos aleatoriamente no espaço, um caminhante ("turista") visita estes sítios seguindo a seguinte regra determinística: ir para o sítio vizinho mais próximo que não tenha sido visitado nos últimos passos. De cada sítio inicial, a trajetória obtida com esta dinâmica determinística apresenta inicialmente um tempo de transiente t, onde novos sítios são visitados, e no final um atrator de período p, onde os mesmos sítios são sempre revisitados. Apesar da simplicidade do modelo, a dinâmica e complexa e os resultados não são triviais. Para dimensionalidades d = 2, a distribuição de atratores de período p, obtida numericamente, pode ser descrita por uma lei de potência com um corte exponencial. Os modelos de ligações aleatórias simétricas (que representa o limite de alta dimensionalidade d = 1 do modelo proposto) e assimétricas indicam que o corte exponencial se torna menos importante à medida que N aumenta. O expoente da lei de potência independe da memória tau, sendo portanto uma distribuição robusta. A dinâmica do turista pode ser aplicada a problemas mais abstratos, onde apenas relações de ordem entre vizinhos são dados. O estudo (por amostragem) da estrutura de um dicionário de sinônimos e um exemplo que foi considerado. Mostrou-se que as palavras podem ser embebidas em um espaço Euclidiano de baixa dimensionalidade.Este resultado concorda com um recente estudo exaustivo realizado e questiona o modelo de análise semântica latente. Com a finalidade de entender a transição entre uma caminhada determinística e uma caminhada aleatória, generalizou-se o problema com memória nula designando uma distribuição de probabilidades para o turista visitar os diversos sítios. Esta distribuição e parametrizada por uma variável externa T (temperatura) de modo que para T = 0 têm-se a caminhada do turista como caso limite e para T tendendo para infinito todos os sítios são visitados com igual probabilidade. Resultados analíticos (d = 1) e numéricos mostram a existência de uma região bem delimitada de transição entre os regimes não-ergódico (baixa temperatura) e ergódico (alta temperatura). Uma analogia é estabelecida com o modelo de vidros de Bouchaud. A eficiência da caminhada com relação aos novos sítios visitados, foi estudada e ela e máxima na borda da aleatoriedade, ou seja, ao redor da temperatura de transição. / The study of random walks in disordered media is one well-developed subject and it can model a great variety of problems, for instance, problems of transport (diffusion). The study of deterministic walks in disordered media is a subject not too explored. In a landscape composed of N sites randomly distributed in of, a walker ("tourist") visits these sites following the deterministic rule: going to the nearest site that has not been visited in the last tau steps. From each initial site, the trajectory, obtained with this deterministic dynamics, presents initially a time transient t, where new sites are visited, and, in the end, a p-period attractor, where the same sites are always revisited. In spite of the simplicity of the model, the dynamics is complex and the results are not trivial. For dimensionalities d = 2, the distribution of p-period obtained numerically can be described by a power law with an exponential cut. The models of symmetrical random connections (that represents the limit of high dimensionality d = 1 of the proposed model) and asymmetrical random connections indicate that the exponential cut turns out to be less important as N increases. The exponent law of the power law does not depend on the memory tau, being therefore a robust distribution. The tourist dynamics can be applied to more abstract problems, where just relationships of neighbor order are given. The study (by sampling) of the structure of a dictionary of synonyms has been considered. It has been shown that the words can be embedded in an Euclidean space of low dimensionality. This result agrees with a recent exhaustive study accomplished and it challenges the model of latent semantic analysis. With the purpose of understanding the transition between a deterministic and a random walk a generalization of the problem, with null memory has been performed by designating a distribution of probabilities for the tourist to visit the several sites. This distribution has the external variable T (temperature) as a parameter so that, when T = 0 it has the tourist walk as a limiting case and for T tending to infinity all of the sites are visited ith equal probability. Analytical numerical results (d = 1) show the existence of well delimited transition between non-ergodic (low temperature) and ergodic (high temperature) regime. An analogy is established Bouchaud glass model. The walk efficiency, regarding the new visited sites to trajectory length, has been studied and it is maximum at the edge of stochasticity, in other words, around the temperature of transition.

This thesis studies two problems centered around non-backtracking walks on graphs. First, we analyze the spectrum of the non-backtracking matrix of a graph. We show how to obtain the eigenvectors of the non-backtracking matrix using a smaller matrix and in doing so, create a block diagonal decomposition which more clearly expresses the non-backtracking matrix eigenvalues. Additionally, we develop upper and lower bounds on the matrix spectrum and use the spectrum to investigate properties of the graph. Second, we investigate the difference between PageRank and non-backtracking PageRank. We show some instances where there is no difference and develop an algorithm to compare PageRank and non-backtracking PageRank under certain conditions using $\mu$-PageRank.

Quantum random walks are a generalization of classical Markovian random walks to a quantum mechanical or quantum computing setting. Quantum walks have promising applications but are complicated by quantum decoherence. We prove that the long-time limiting behavior of the class of quantum operations which are the convex combination of norm one operators is governed by the eigenvectors with norm one eigenvalues which are shared by the operators. This class includes all operations formed by a coherent operation with positive probability of orthogonal measurement at each step. We also prove that any operation that has range contained in a low enough dimension subspace of the space of density operators has limiting behavior isomorphic to an associated Markov chain. A particular class of such operations are coherent operations followed by an orthogonal measurement. Applications of the convergence theorems to quantum walks are given. / Mathematics