Markov loops in discrete spaces

Abstract: The main topic of these notes are Markov loops, studied in the context of continuous time Markov chains on discrete state spaces. We refer to [1] and [2] for the short "history" of the subject. In contrast with these references, symmetry is not assumed, and more attention is given to the infinite case. All results are presented in terms of the semigroup generator. In comparison with [1], some delicate proofs are given in more details or with a better method. We focus mostly on properties of the (multi)occupation field but also included some results about loop clusters (see [3] in the symmetric context) and spanning trees. [1] Markov paths, loops and fields, by Yves Le Jan, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 2026, Springer, Heidelberg, 2011 [2] Topics in occupation times and Gaussian free fields, by Alain-Sol Sznitman, Zurich Lectures in Advanced Mathematics, European Mathematical Society (EMS), Z\"urich, 2012 [3] Markovian loop clusters on graphs, by Yves Le Jan and Sophie Lemaire, Preprint, arxiv:1211.0300 [math.PR], 2012