Mixing times of a Burnside process Markov chain on set partitions

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Paguyo, J. E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2022
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author Paguyo, J. E.
author_facet Paguyo, J. E.
contents Let $X$ be a finite set and let $G$ be a finite group acting on $X$. The group action splits $X$ into disjoint orbits. The Burnside process is a Markov chain on $X$ which has a uniform stationary distribution when the chain is lumped to orbits. We consider the case where $X = [k]^n$ with $k \geq n$ and $G = S_k$ is the symmetric group on $[k]$, such that $G$ acts on $X$ by permuting the value of each coordinate. The resulting Burnside process gives a novel algorithm for sampling a set partition of $[n]$ uniformly at random. We obtain bounds on the mixing time and show that the chain is rapidly mixing. For the case $k < n$, the algorithm corresponds to sampling a set partition of $[n]$ with at most $k$ blocks, and we obtain a mixing time bound which is independent of $n$. Along the way, we obtain explicit formulas for the transition probabilities and bounds on the second largest eigenvalue for both the original process and the lumped chain.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2207_14269
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Mixing times of a Burnside process Markov chain on set partitions
Paguyo, J. E.
Probability
Combinatorics
60J10, 60C05
Let $X$ be a finite set and let $G$ be a finite group acting on $X$. The group action splits $X$ into disjoint orbits. The Burnside process is a Markov chain on $X$ which has a uniform stationary distribution when the chain is lumped to orbits. We consider the case where $X = [k]^n$ with $k \geq n$ and $G = S_k$ is the symmetric group on $[k]$, such that $G$ acts on $X$ by permuting the value of each coordinate. The resulting Burnside process gives a novel algorithm for sampling a set partition of $[n]$ uniformly at random. We obtain bounds on the mixing time and show that the chain is rapidly mixing. For the case $k < n$, the algorithm corresponds to sampling a set partition of $[n]$ with at most $k$ blocks, and we obtain a mixing time bound which is independent of $n$. Along the way, we obtain explicit formulas for the transition probabilities and bounds on the second largest eigenvalue for both the original process and the lumped chain.
title Mixing times of a Burnside process Markov chain on set partitions
topic Probability
Combinatorics
60J10, 60C05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.14269