Enumeration of closed random walks in the square lattice according to their areas

Abstract

We study the area distribution of closed walks of length $n$, beginning and ending at the origin. The concept of area of a walk in the square lattice is generalized and the usefulness of the new concept is demonstrated through a simple argument. It is concluded that the number of walks of length $n$ and area $s$ equals to the coefficient of $z^s$ in the expression $(x+x^{-1}+y+y^{-1})^n$, where the calculations are performed in a special group ring $R[x,y,z]$. A polynomial time algorithm for calculating these values, is then concluded. Finally, the provided algorithm and the results of implementation are compared with previous works.