Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / iii / Paper 216 / 2 / c / Solution

The geometric drift condition requires a measurable $V:\mathcal{X}\to [1,\infty )$, a small set $C$, constants $\lambda \in (0,1)$ and $b<\infty$, andSmallness means that for some $m\ge 1$, $\epsilon >0$, and probability measure $\nu$, $P^m(x,\cdot )\ge \epsilon \nu (\cdot )$ for every $x\in C$. With irreducibility and aperiodicity, this drift-minorisation condition implies geometric ergodicity. The function $V$ controls the chain away from the small set; inside that set the additive constant allows unrestricted bounded drift.