Spectral theory for Markov chains with transition matrix admitting a stochastic bidiagonal factorization

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Branquinho, Amílcar, Foulquié-Moreno, Ana, Mañas, Manuel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Branquinho, Amílcar
Foulquié-Moreno, Ana
Mañas, Manuel
author_facet Branquinho, Amílcar
Foulquié-Moreno, Ana
Mañas, Manuel
contents The recently established spectral Favard theorem for bounded banded matrices admitting a positive bidiagonal factorization is applied to a broader class of Markov chains with bounded banded transition matrices, extending beyond the classical birth-and-death setting, to those that allow a positive stochastic bidiagonal factorization. In the finite case, the Karlin-McGregor spectral representation is derived. The recurrence of the Markov chain is established, and explicit formulas for the stationary distributions are provided in terms of orthogonal polynomials. Analogous results are obtained for the countably infinite case. In this setting, the chain is not necessarily recurrent, and its behavior is characterized in terms of the associated spectral measure. Finally, ergodicity is examined through the presence of a mass at $1$ in the spectral measure, corresponding to the eigenvalue $1$ with both right and left eigenvectors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_10890
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spectral theory for Markov chains with transition matrix admitting a stochastic bidiagonal factorization
Branquinho, Amílcar
Foulquié-Moreno, Ana
Mañas, Manuel
Probability
Mathematical Physics
Classical Analysis and ODEs
42C05, 33C45, 33C47, 60J10, 60Gxx, 47B39, 47B36
The recently established spectral Favard theorem for bounded banded matrices admitting a positive bidiagonal factorization is applied to a broader class of Markov chains with bounded banded transition matrices, extending beyond the classical birth-and-death setting, to those that allow a positive stochastic bidiagonal factorization. In the finite case, the Karlin-McGregor spectral representation is derived. The recurrence of the Markov chain is established, and explicit formulas for the stationary distributions are provided in terms of orthogonal polynomials. Analogous results are obtained for the countably infinite case. In this setting, the chain is not necessarily recurrent, and its behavior is characterized in terms of the associated spectral measure. Finally, ergodicity is examined through the presence of a mass at $1$ in the spectral measure, corresponding to the eigenvalue $1$ with both right and left eigenvectors.
title Spectral theory for Markov chains with transition matrix admitting a stochastic bidiagonal factorization
topic Probability
Mathematical Physics
Classical Analysis and ODEs
42C05, 33C45, 33C47, 60J10, 60Gxx, 47B39, 47B36
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10890