Hopf algebras and Markov chains: Two examples and a theory
The operation of squaring (coproduct followed by product) in a combinatorial
Hopf algebra is shown to induce a Markov chain in natural bases. Chains
constructed in this way include widely studied methods of card shuffling, a
natural "rock-breaking" process, and Markov chains on simplicial complexes.
Many of these chains can be explictly diagonalized using the primitive elements
of the algebra and the combinatorics…