Kemeny's constant minimization for reversible Markov chains via structure-preserving perturbations

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Durastante, Fabio, Gnazzo, Miryam, Meini, Beatrice
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Durastante, Fabio
Gnazzo, Miryam
Meini, Beatrice
author_facet Durastante, Fabio
Gnazzo, Miryam
Meini, Beatrice
contents Kemeny's constant measures the efficiency of a Markov chain in traversing its states. We investigate whether structure-preserving perturbations to the transition probabilities of a reversible Markov chain can improve its connectivity while maintaining a fixed stationary distribution. Although the minimum achievable value for Kemeny's constant can be estimated, the required perturbations may be infeasible. We reformulate the problem as an optimization task, focusing on solution existence and efficient algorithms, with an emphasis to the problem of minimizing Kemeny's constant under sparsity constraints.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_24679
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Kemeny's constant minimization for reversible Markov chains via structure-preserving perturbations
Durastante, Fabio
Gnazzo, Miryam
Meini, Beatrice
Numerical Analysis
Probability
60J22, 65C40, 90C30, 53A99
Kemeny's constant measures the efficiency of a Markov chain in traversing its states. We investigate whether structure-preserving perturbations to the transition probabilities of a reversible Markov chain can improve its connectivity while maintaining a fixed stationary distribution. Although the minimum achievable value for Kemeny's constant can be estimated, the required perturbations may be infeasible. We reformulate the problem as an optimization task, focusing on solution existence and efficient algorithms, with an emphasis to the problem of minimizing Kemeny's constant under sparsity constraints.
title Kemeny's constant minimization for reversible Markov chains via structure-preserving perturbations
topic Numerical Analysis
Probability
60J22, 65C40, 90C30, 53A99
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24679