Properties of centered random walks on locally compact groups and Lie groups

Abstract

The basic aim of this paper is to study asymptotic properties of the convolution powers $K^{(n)} = K*K* \cdots *K$ of a possibly non-symmetric probability density $K$ on a locally compact, compactly generated group $G$. If $K$ is centered, we show that the Markov operator $T$ associated with $K$ is analytic in $L^p(G)$ for $1 < p < \infty$, and establish Davies-Gaffney estimates in $L^2$ for the iterated operators $T^n$. These results enable us to obtain various Gaussian bounds on $K^{(n)}$. In particular, when $G$ is a Lie group we recover and extend some estimates of Alexopoulos and of Varopoulos for convolution powers of centered densities and for the heat kernels of centered sublaplacians. Finally, in case $G$ is amenable, we discover that the properties of analyticity or Davies-Gaffney estimates hold only if $K$ is centered.