On random walks with restricted reversals

Abstract

1. Introduction. Problems of unrestricted random walks on lattices have been considered by many authors and methods have been discovered for the exact enumeration of the number of walks between two points, for obtaining asymptotic estimates of the distribution functions and for evaluating special parameters such as the probability of ultimate retum to the starting point. By an unrestricted walk we mean one in which the probability of the next step at any stage is not influenced by the previous choice of steps. The corresponding problems for restricted (or correlated) random walks are more difficult and fewer results have been obtained. Restricted walks are, however, of considerable physical interest in connexion with the statistical behaviour of long chain molecules, the theory of cooperative phenomena in crystals and in other applications.