Complexity Bounds for MCMC via Diffusion Limits

Abstract: We connect known results about diffusion limits of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms to the Computer Science notion of algorithm complexity. Our main result states that any diffusion limit of a Markov process implies a corresponding complexity bound (in an appropriate metric). We then combine this result with previously-known MCMC diffusion limit results to prove that under appropriate assumptions, the Random-Walk Metropolis (RWM) algorithm in $d$ dimensions takes $O(d)$ iterations to converge to stationarity, while the Metropolis-Adjusted Langevin Algorithm (MALA) takes $O(d^{1/3})$ iterations to converge to stationarity.