Hitting Moving Targets on Eulerian Digraphs in O(mn) Expected Time

Let G be a connected loopless Eulerian directed multigraph with n vertices and m arcs, and let X be its half-lazy simple random walk. For every deterministic target sequence (u_t), we prove that the expected hitting time is at most t_unif(1/4)+10m(n-1)=O(mn), uniformly in the starting vertex. This removes the logarithmic factor in the general moving-target bound of Boczkowski, Peres and Sousi and answers their explicit question following Corollary 2.3. The proof combines a point Dirichlet inequality, a killed-operator contraction and burn-in of the unconditioned law. The same bound holds for independent random targets. An explicit simple nonreversible 18-vertex, 51-arc graph has fixed-target expectation 936>918=mn, refuting coefficient one for arbitrary deterministic targets but not settling that coefficient for two independent walks. The ambiguous full AIM Problem 3.1 is not claimed completely resolved. This is an unrefereed preprint with reproducible exact-rational checks; no independent review, formal verification or absolute priority is claimed.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-10-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23187058
Primary Topic
Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics
Type
preprint
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preprint

Hitting Moving Targets on Eulerian Digraphs in O(mn) Expected Time

Alper Ferudun
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics
preprint

Hitting Moving Targets on Eulerian Digraphs in O(mn) Expected Time

Alper Ferudun
preprint en

Abstract

Let G be a connected loopless Eulerian directed multigraph with n vertices and m arcs, and let X be its half-lazy simple random walk. For every deterministic target sequence (u_t), we prove that the expected hitting time is at most t_unif(1/4)+10m(n-1)=O(mn), uniformly in the starting vertex. This removes the logarithmic factor in the general moving-target bound of Boczkowski, Peres and Sousi and answers their explicit question following Corollary 2.3. The proof combines a point Dirichlet inequality, a killed-operator contraction and burn-in of the unconditioned law. The same bound holds for independent random targets. An explicit simple nonreversible 18-vertex, 51-arc graph has fixed-target expectation 936>918=mn, refuting coefficient one for arbitrary deterministic targets but not settling that coefficient for two independent walks. The ambiguous full AIM Problem 3.1 is not claimed completely resolved. This is an unrefereed preprint with reproducible exact-rational checks; no independent review, formal verification or absolute priority is claimed.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics
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Hitting Moving Targets on Eulerian Digraphs in O(mn) Expected Time — Alper Ferudun · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS