Interacting Edge-Reinforced Random Walks

Abstract: We consider the edge-reinforced random walk with multiple (but finitely many) walkers which influence the edge weights together. The walker which moves at a given time step is chosen uniformly at random, or according to a fixed order. First, we consider 2 walkers with linear reinforcement on a line graph comprising three nodes. We show that the edge weights evolve similarly to the setting with a single walker which corresponds to a P\'olya urn. In particular, the left edge weight proportion is a martingale at certain stopping times, showing that a (random) limiting proportion exists. We then look at an arbitrary number of walkers on Z with very general reinforcement. We show that in this case, the behaviour is also the same as for a single walker: either all walkers are recurrent or all walkers have finite range. In the particular case of reinforcements of "sequence type", we give a criterion for recurrence.