A Renewal Theorem for Random Walks in Multidimensional Time

Abstract

Let $X, {X_1}, {X_2}, \ldots$ be a family of integer valued, independent and identically distributed random variables with positive mean and finite (positive) variance. Let ${S_n} = {X_1} + {X_2} + \cdots + {X_n}$. The asymptotic behavior of the weighted sum $R(k) = \sum {a_n}P({S_n} = k)$, with summation over $n \geq 1$, is investigated as $k \to + \infty$. In the special case ${a_n} = {d_r}(n)$, the number of solutions of the equation $n = {n_1}{n_2} \cdots {n_r}$ in positive integers ${n_j}, 1 \leq j \leq r, R(k)$ becomes the renewal function $Q(k)$ for a random walk in $r$-dimensional time whose terms are distributed as $X$. Under some assumptions on the magnitude of ${a_n}$ and of $A(x) = \sum \nolimits _{n \leq x} {{a_n}}$, (i) it is shown that $R(k)$ is asymptotically distribution free as $k \to + \infty$, (ii) the proper order of magnitude of $R(k)$ is determined, and under some further restrictions on $A(x)$, (iii) a simple asymptotic formula is given for $R(k)$. From (i), the known asymptotic formula for $Q(k)$ with $r = 2$ or 3 is deduced under the sole assumption of finite variance. The relaxation of previous moment assumptions requires a new inequality for the sum of the divisor function ${d_r}(n), 1 \leq n \leq x$, which by itself is of interest.