57 research outputs found
CUTOFF AT THE " ENTROPIC TIME " FOR SPARSE MARKOV CHAINS
International audienceWe study convergence to equilibrium for a large class of Markov chains in random environment. The chains are sparse in the sense that in every row of the transition matrix P the mass is essentially concentrated on few entries. Moreover, the random environment is such that rows of P are independent and such that the entries are exchangeable within each row. This includes various models of random walks on sparse random directed graphs. The models are generally non reversible and the equilibrium distribution is itself unknown. In this general setting we establish the cutoff phenomenon for the total variation distance to equilibrium, with mixing time given by the logarithm of the number of states times the inverse of the average row entropy of P. As an application, we consider the case where the rows of P are i.i.d. random vectors in the domain of attraction of a Poisson-Dirichlet law with index α ∈ (0, 1). Our main results are based on a detailed analysis of the weight of the trajectory followed by the walker. This approach offers an interpretation of cutoff as an instance of the concentration of measure phenomenon
Trace Formulae and Spectral Statistics for Discrete Laplacians on Regular Graphs (I)
Trace formulae for d-regular graphs are derived and used to express the
spectral density in terms of the periodic walks on the graphs under
consideration. The trace formulae depend on a parameter w which can be tuned
continuously to assign different weights to different periodic orbit
contributions. At the special value w=1, the only periodic orbits which
contribute are the non back- scattering orbits, and the smooth part in the
trace formula coincides with the Kesten-McKay expression. As w deviates from
unity, non vanishing weights are assigned to the periodic walks with
back-scatter, and the smooth part is modified in a consistent way. The trace
formulae presented here are the tools to be used in the second paper in this
sequence, for showing the connection between the spectral properties of
d-regular graphs and the theory of random matrices.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure
Functional limit theorems for random regular graphs
Consider d uniformly random permutation matrices on n labels. Consider the
sum of these matrices along with their transposes. The total can be interpreted
as the adjacency matrix of a random regular graph of degree 2d on n vertices.
We consider limit theorems for various combinatorial and analytical properties
of this graph (or the matrix) as n grows to infinity, either when d is kept
fixed or grows slowly with n. In a suitable weak convergence framework, we
prove that the (finite but growing in length) sequences of the number of short
cycles and of cyclically non-backtracking walks converge to distributional
limits. We estimate the total variation distance from the limit using Stein's
method. As an application of these results we derive limits of linear
functionals of the eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix. A key step in this
latter derivation is an extension of the Kahn-Szemer\'edi argument for
estimating the second largest eigenvalue for all values of d and n.Comment: Added Remark 27. 39 pages. To appear in Probability Theory and
Related Field
Mixing time of critical Ising model on trees is polynomial in the height
In the heat-bath Glauber dynamics for the Ising model on the lattice,
physicists believe that the spectral gap of the continuous-time chain exhibits
the following behavior. For some critical inverse-temperature , the
inverse-gap is bounded for , polynomial in the surface area
for and exponential in it for . This has
been proved for except at criticality. So far, the only underlying
geometry where the critical behavior has been confirmed is the complete graph.
Recently, the dynamics for the Ising model on a regular tree, also known as the
Bethe lattice, has been intensively studied. The facts that the inverse-gap is
bounded for were
established, where is the critical spin-glass parameter, and the
tree-height plays the role of the surface area.
In this work, we complete the picture for the inverse-gap of the Ising model
on the -ary tree, by showing that it is indeed polynomial in at
criticality. The degree of our polynomial bound does not depend on , and
furthermore, this result holds under any boundary condition. We also obtain
analogous bounds for the mixing-time of the chain. In addition, we study the
near critical behavior, and show that for , the inverse-gap
and mixing-time are both .Comment: 53 pages; 3 figure
Lower Bounds on the Time/Memory Tradeoff of Function Inversion
We study time/memory tradeoffs of function inversion: an algorithm, i.e., an inverter, equipped with an -bit advice on a randomly chosen function and using oracle queries to , tries to invert a randomly chosen output of , i.e., to find . Much progress was done regarding adaptive function inversion - the inverter is allowed to make adaptive oracle queries. Hellman [IEEE transactions on Information Theory \u2780] presented an adaptive inverter that inverts with high probability a random . Fiat and Naor [SICOMP \u2700] proved that for any with (ignoring low-order terms), an -advice, -query variant of Hellman\u27s algorithm inverts a constant fraction of the image points of any function. Yao [STOC \u2790] proved a lower bound of for this problem. Closing the gap between the above lower and upper bounds is a long-standing open question.
Very little is known for the non-adaptive variant of the question - the inverter chooses its queries in advance. The only known upper bounds, i.e., inverters, are the trivial ones (with ), and the only lower bound is the above bound of Yao. In a recent work, Corrigan-Gibbs and Kogan [TCC \u2719] partially justified the difficulty of finding lower bounds on non-adaptive inverters, showing that a lower bound on the time/memory tradeoff of non-adaptive inverters implies a lower bound on low-depth Boolean circuits. Bounds that, for a strong enough choice of parameters, are notoriously hard to prove.
We make progress on the above intriguing question, both for the adaptive and the non-adaptive case, proving the following lower bounds on restricted families of inverters:
- Linear-advice (adaptive inverter): If the advice string is a linear function of (e.g., , for some matrix , viewing as a vector in ), then . The bound generalizes to the case where the advice string of , i.e., the coordinate-wise addition of the truth tables of and , can be computed from the description of and by a low communication protocol.
- Affine non-adaptive decoders: If the non-adaptive inverter has an affine decoder - it outputs a linear function, determined by the advice string and the element to invert, of the query answers - then (regardless of ).
- Affine non-adaptive decision trees: If the non-adaptive inversion algorithm is a -depth affine decision tree - it outputs the evaluation of a decision tree whose nodes compute a linear function of the answers to the queries - and , then
The ProPrems trial: investigating the effects of probiotics on late onset sepsis in very preterm infants
BACKGROUND: Late onset sepsis is a frequent complication of prematurity associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract play a key role in the development of healthy immune responses. Healthy term infants acquire these commensal organisms rapidly after birth. However, colonisation in preterm infants is adversely affected by delivery mode, antibiotic treatment and the intensive care environment. Altered microbiota composition may lead to increased colonisation with pathogenic bacteria, poor immune development and susceptibility to sepsis in the preterm infant.Probiotics are live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefits on the host. Amongst numerous bacteriocidal and nutritional roles, they may also favourably modulate host immune responses in local and remote tissues. Meta-analyses of probiotic supplementation in preterm infants report a reduction in mortality and necrotising enterocolitis. Studies with sepsis as an outcome have reported mixed results to date.Allergic diseases are increasing in incidence in "westernised" countries. There is evidence that probiotics may reduce the incidence of these diseases by altering the intestinal microbiota to influence immune function. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a multi-centre, randomised, double blinded, placebo controlled trial investigating supplementing preterm infants born at < 32 weeks' gestation weighing < 1500 g, with a probiotic combination (Bifidobacterium infantis, Streptococcus thermophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis). A total of 1,100 subjects are being recruited in Australia and New Zealand. Infants commence the allocated intervention from soon after the start of feeds until discharge home or term corrected age. The primary outcome is the incidence of at least one episode of definite (blood culture positive) late onset sepsis before 40 weeks corrected age or discharge home. Secondary outcomes include: Necrotising enterocolitis, mortality, antibiotic usage, time to establish full enteral feeds, duration of hospital stay, growth measurements at 6 and 12 months' corrected age and evidence of atopic conditions at 12 months' corrected age. DISCUSSION: Results from previous studies on the use of probiotics to prevent diseases in preterm infants are promising. However, a large clinical trial is required to address outstanding issues regarding safety and efficacy in this vulnerable population. This study will address these important issues. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN012607000144415The product "ABC Dophilus Probiotic Powder for Infants®", Solgar, USA has its 3 probiotics strains registered with the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen (DSMZ--German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures) as BB-12 15954, B-02 96579, Th-4 15957
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