Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/ib/paper-2/20h/a/solution

For , condition on the first step and use the Markov property. The hitting probability obeys
For , the hitting time is zero, so . Since , there. Hence everywhere, as required. This makes a nonnegative superharmonic function for a Markov chain, with an inequality rather than an equality on the boundary.

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