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A general lower bound for mixing of single-site dynamics on graphs. (English) Zbl 1125.60075
Summary: We prove that any Markov chain that performs local, reversible updates on randomly chosen vertices of a bounded-degree graph necessarily has mixing time at least $$\Omega(n\log n)$$, where $$n$$ is the number of vertices. Our bound applies to the so-called Glauber dynamics that has been used extensively in algorithms for the Ising model, independent sets, graph colorings and other structures in computer science and statistical physics, and demonstrates that many of these algorithms are optimal up to constant factors within their class. Previously, no superlinear lower bound was known for this class of algorithms. Though widely conjectured, such a bound had been proved previously only in very restricted circumstances, such as for the empty graph and the path. We also show that the assumption of bounded degree is necessary by giving a family of dynamics on graphs of unbounded degree with mixing time $$O(n)$$.

##### MSC:
 60J10 Markov chains (discrete-time Markov processes on discrete state spaces) 60K35 Interacting random processes; statistical mechanics type models; percolation theory 68W20 Randomized algorithms 68W25 Approximation algorithms 82C20 Dynamic lattice systems (kinetic Ising, etc.) and systems on graphs in time-dependent statistical mechanics
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