Peter Winkler, Dartmouth College

Abstract

Fix a symmetric, continuous probability distribution on the real line, and use it for n steps of a random walk.  The relative positions (i.e., partial sums) induce a permutation on the set {0,1,...,n}.  A surprising amount can be said about these random permutations, independent of the distribution.
(Joint work with Peter Francis and Evita Nestoridi of Stony Brook University.)