Comparison Theorems for Reversible Markov Chains

Authors:
  • PDPersi Diaconis
    Persi Diaconis
  • LSLaurent Saloff-Coste
    Laurent Saloff-Coste
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Abstract
We introduce geometric comparison inequalities that give bounds on the eigenvalues of a reversible Markov chain in terms of the eigenvalues of a second chain. The bounds are applied to get sharp results for the exclusion process.