Random motion on finite rings, I: commutative rings

Abstract

We consider irreversible Markov chains on finite commutative rings randomly generated using both addition and multiplication. We restrict ourselves to the case where the addition is uniformly random and multiplication is arbitrary. We first prove formulas for eigenvalues and multiplicities of the transition matrices of these chains using the character theory of finite abelian groups. The examples of principal ideal rings (such as Z_n) and finite chain rings (such as Z_pk) are particularly illuminating and are treated separately. We then prove a recursive formula for the stationary probabilities for any ring, and use it to prove explicit formulas for the probabilities for finite chain rings when multiplication is also uniformly random. Finally, we prove constant mixing time for our chains using coupling.