Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / iii / Paper 215 / 4 / a

Use $⟨f,g{⟩}_{\pi }={\sum }_x\pi (x)f(x)g(x)$. The Dirichlet form of a Markov chain isThe equality follows by expanding the square and using row sums one and the stationary distribution identity. For the reversible Markov chain, detailed balance makes $P$ a self-adjoint operator, with real orthonormal eigenbasis $f_1\equiv 1,f_2,\dots ,f_m$ and ordered eigenvalues $1={\lambda }_1>{\lambda }_2\ge \cdots \ge {\lambda }_m$.

Adding a constant changes neither the variance nor the Dirichlet form of a Markov chain. Expand the centered function as $f-\pi (f)={\sum }_{j\ge 2}{a}_j{f}_j$. ThenFor every nonconstant $f$ the quotient is at least $1-{\lambda }_2$, and equality is attained at $f=f_2$. This provesEquivalently minimize the Dirichlet form of a Markov chain over centered unit-norm functions. This is the variational characterization underlying the Poincare inequality for a reversible Markov chain, and does not require the transition matrix to have nonnegative eigenvalues. For a one-state chain there is no nonconstant test function; the displayed minimization concerns $m\ge 2$.