Ordered exponential random walks

Abstract

We study a $d$-dimensional random walk with exponentially distributed increments conditioned so that the components stay ordered (in the sense of Doob). We find explicitly a positive harmonic function $h$ for the killed process and then construct an ordered process using Doob's $h$-transform. Since these random walks are not nearest-neighbour, the harmonic function is not the Vandermonde determinant. The ordered process is related to the departure process of M/M/1 queues in tandem. We find asymptotics for the tail probabilities of the time until the components in exponential random walks become disordered and a local limit theorem. We find the distribution of the processes of smallest and largest particles as Fredholm determinants.Comment: 43 pages. The second version of the paper has been restructured, errors/typos corrected and further details added. To appear in ALE