Cover-time Gumbel Fluctuations in Finite-Range, Symmetric, Irreducible Random Walks on Torus

Abstract

In this paper, we rigorously establish the Gumbel-distributed fluctuations of the cover time, normalized by the mean first passage time, for finite-range, symmetric, irreducible random walks on a torus of dimension three or higher. This has been numerically demonstrated in (Chupeau et al. Nature Physics, 2015), supporting the broader applicability of the Gumbel approximation across a wide range of stochastic processes. Expanding upon the pioneering work of Belius (Probability Theory and Related Fields, 2013) on the cover time for simple random walks, we extend the proof strategy to encompass more general scenarios. Our approach relies on a strong coupling between the random walk and the corresponding random interlacements. The presented results contribute to a better understanding of the cover-time behavior in random search processes.