Isotropic random walks in a tree

Summary Let T be an infinite homogeneous tree of order a+1. We study Markov chains {X_n} in T whose transition functions p(x, y)=A[d(x,y)] depend only on the shortest distance between x and y in the graph. The graph T can be represented as a symmetric space of a p-adic matrix group; we prove a series of results using essentially the spherical functions of this symmetric space. Theorem 1.d(X_n,x) n a.s., where >0 if A(0) 1, X₀=x. Assuming {X_n} is strongly aperiodic, Theorem 2. p₂(x, y)CRⁿ/n^3/2 for fixed x, y where R=(d) A(d)<1, and if E[d(X₁, X₀)²]<, Theorem 3. R(1–u, x, y) = (1–u)ⁿp_n(x, y)=Ca^–d[exp(–du/)+o_d(1)] as d=d(x,y) uniformly for 0u2. Using Theorem 3, we calculate the Martin boundary Dirichlet kernel of p(x, y) on T, which turns out to be independent of {itA(d)}. We also consider a stepping-stone model of a randomly-mating-and-migrating population on the nodes of T. If initially all individuals are distinct, then in generation n approximately half of the individuals of a given type are within n of a typical one and essentially all are within 2n.This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number MCS 75-08098-A01For the academic year 1977–78: Department of Mathematics GN-50, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA