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Main Authors: Anand, Emile, Umans, Chris
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11104
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author Anand, Emile
Umans, Chris
author_facet Anand, Emile
Umans, Chris
contents We extend the pseudorandomness of random walks on expander graphs using the sticky random walk. Building on prior works, it was recently shown that expander random walks can fool all symmetric functions in total variation distance (TVD) upto an $O(λ(\frac{p}{\min f})^{O(p)})$ error, where $λ$ is the second largest eigenvalue of the expander, $p$ is the size of the arbitrary alphabet used to label the vertices, and $\min f = \min_{b\in[p]} f_b$, where $f_b$ is the fraction of vertices labeled $b$ in the graph. Golowich and Vadhan conjecture that the dependency on the $(\frac{p}{\min f})^{O(p)}$ term is not tight. In this paper, we resolve the conjecture in the affirmative for a family of expanders. We present a generalization of the sticky random walk for which Golowich and Vadhan predict a TVD upper bound of $O(λp^{O(p)})$ using a Fourier-analytic approach. For this family of graphs, we use a combinatorial approach involving the Krawtchouk functions to derive a strengthened TVD of $O(λ)$. Furthermore, we present equivalencies between the generalized sticky random walk, and, using linear-algebraic techniques, show that the generalized sticky random walk parameterizes an infinite family of expander graphs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_11104
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pseudorandomness of the Sticky Random Walk
Anand, Emile
Umans, Chris
Probability
Computational Complexity
Combinatorics
Spectral Theory
F.0; G.2.2; G.3
We extend the pseudorandomness of random walks on expander graphs using the sticky random walk. Building on prior works, it was recently shown that expander random walks can fool all symmetric functions in total variation distance (TVD) upto an $O(λ(\frac{p}{\min f})^{O(p)})$ error, where $λ$ is the second largest eigenvalue of the expander, $p$ is the size of the arbitrary alphabet used to label the vertices, and $\min f = \min_{b\in[p]} f_b$, where $f_b$ is the fraction of vertices labeled $b$ in the graph. Golowich and Vadhan conjecture that the dependency on the $(\frac{p}{\min f})^{O(p)}$ term is not tight. In this paper, we resolve the conjecture in the affirmative for a family of expanders. We present a generalization of the sticky random walk for which Golowich and Vadhan predict a TVD upper bound of $O(λp^{O(p)})$ using a Fourier-analytic approach. For this family of graphs, we use a combinatorial approach involving the Krawtchouk functions to derive a strengthened TVD of $O(λ)$. Furthermore, we present equivalencies between the generalized sticky random walk, and, using linear-algebraic techniques, show that the generalized sticky random walk parameterizes an infinite family of expander graphs.
title Pseudorandomness of the Sticky Random Walk
topic Probability
Computational Complexity
Combinatorics
Spectral Theory
F.0; G.2.2; G.3
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11104