Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/ib/paper-4/7h/solution

For the simple random walk on the integer line, a return to the origin is possible only at an even time. At time , exactly of the increments must be , so the return probability is
The supplied factorial bounds, equivalently the order estimate in the Stirling formula, give
Consequently diverges. By the recurrence criterion by return probabilities, the origin is a recurrent state; translation invariance then makes the whole walk recurrent.
For three independent walks, the probability that all three are at the origin at time is
This P-series is convergent, so the first of the Borel-Cantelli lemmas says that simultaneous returns occur only finitely often with probability one. Therefore the requested probability is

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