Central limit theorems for C(S)-valued random variables

Let C(S) be the space of real-valued continuous functions on a compact metric space S. Let {X_n, n ? 1} be a sequence of independent identically distributed C(S)-valued random variables with mean zero and sup_t?sE[X₁²(t)] = 1. We show that the measures induced by ($\text{X}{}_1\text{+ ··· + X}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{) n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ converge weakly to a Gaussian measure on C(S) under different conditions on X₁, one of which consolidates and extends results of Strassen and Dudley, Giné, and Dudley. Our method of proof is different from the methods employed by these authors.     

Some properties of random walk paths

For random walk on the d-dimensional integer lattice we consider again the problem of deciding when a set is recurrent, that is visited infinitely often with probability one by the random walk in question. Some special cases are considered, among them the following: for d = 2, what sequences (n_j) have the property that with probability one the random walk visits the origin for infinitely many n_j. A related problem, which is however not a special case of the recurrence problem, is to decide for what sequences (n_j) the states visited by the random walk at times n_j are all distinct, with only a finite number of exceptions. This problem is dealt with in the final part of the paper.