Random walks on networks: cumulative distribution of cover time

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2009 Oct;80(4 Pt 1):041102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.80.041102. Epub 2009 Oct 2.

Abstract

We derive an exact closed-form analytical expression for the distribution of the cover time for a random walk over an arbitrary graph. In special case, we derive simplified exact expressions for the distributions of cover time for a complete graph, a cycle graph, and a path graph. An accurate approximation for the cover time distribution, with computational complexity of O(2n) , is also presented. The approximation is numerically tested only for graphs with n<or=1000 nodes.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Probability
  • Stochastic Processes*
  • Time Factors