Journal of Theoretical Probability, Vol. 6, No.

4, 1993

Resistance Dimension, Random Walk Dimension and

Fractal Dimension
Xian Yin Zhou 2

Received March 9, 1992," revised March 2, 1993

In this paper, we generalize a theorem due to Telcs concerning random walks

on infinite graphs, which describes the relation of random walk dimension,
fractal dimension and resistance dimension. Moreover, we obtain a reasonable
upper b o u n d and lower bound on the hitting time in terms of resistance for
some nice graphs. In fact, the conditions given in this paper are weaker than
those obtained by A. Telcs. 5

KEY W O R D S : Resistance; random walk; fractal; electrical network.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
Recently, Teles 5 used some techniques in electrical network to make an
excellent argument for random walks on infinite graphs. To be precise, let
G= (V, E) be an infinite graph, {Xn}n~>o be the simple random walk on G
starting at a fixed vertex x s V. Furthermore, let dR, d and dn be respec-
tively the random walk (RW) dimension, ffactal dimension and resistance
dimension, which are defined in [Ref. 5, Section 4] (or Section 2). Then,
Telcs 5 proved that

a) d>~dn, i f G i s dense
b) dR=d+2-dn>~2, if G is smooth

where the definitions of dense and smooth are given in Ref. J [Def. 5].

t Partly supported by National Natural Science Foundation and State Educational

Committee of China.
2 Department of Mathematics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, The People's
Republic of China.

635

0894-9840/93/1000-0635507.00/09 1993 Plenum PublishingCorporation

636 Zhou

The relation b) is very useful. In fact, the following relation was

obtained by Barlow and Bass 1 for the Sierpinski carpet in R ~ in continuous
case,

2d
d, = ~--s (1.1)

where d, is the spectral dimension of a fractal. Then, by means of the rela-

tion b) one can get an estimate for the spectral dimension d, by estimating
the resistance dimension. The relation in Eq. (1,1) is also proved to be true
for some strongly recurrent fractals, which contain some nested fractals and
the Sierpinski carpet in R 2 as examples (e.g. see Ref. [3]).
As mentioned by Telcs, 5 one can easily check that some finitely
ramified fractals satisfy the conditions of smooth and dense. However, it is
not so easy to find an equipotential surface between any given surfaces for
infinitely ramified fractals. In other words, it is not so simple to check that
infinitely ramified fractals also satisfy the conditions of smooth and dense.
In this paper, we made an argument again for the relation b). We will
give the other conditions (see (H1) and (H2)) so that the relations a) and
b) also hold for these graphs. Of course, the hypotheses (H~) and (Ha) are
weaker than those of smooth and dense, given by Telcs. s Moreover, the
hypothesis (H1) is usually satisfied for the general fractals, and the
hypothesis (H2) is satisfied for a fractal if the Harnack inequality holds for
the corresponding simple random walk. Finally, we will give two remarks
on the relation b). The first one is to check that our hypotheses (HI) and
(H~) are satisfied if the conditions of moderate (see Ref. 6, Section 2.5,
or here in Section 3) are satisfied. Then, [Ref. 6, Theorem 11 should be
written as foitows

2dz >~dR, if G is moderate

where the exponent d2 is the spectra of the graph G (see Ref. 6 or Section 2).
The second remark is to deduce a reasonable estimate on the hitting
time of random walk in terms of resistance, which is stronger than the
relation b), for some nice graphs (see Proposition 3.2 and Proposition 3.3).
A relation with this type was already used by Barlow and Bass to get a
reasonable estimate for the transition density of Brownian motion on the
Sierpinski carpet in R 2, which leads to the existence of spectral dimension
for this fractal (see Ref. 1). In fact, similar results can also be obtained by
using the reasonable estimate on hitting time for some strongly recurrent
fractals (e.g., see Ref. 3).
Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 637

2. A G E N E R A L R E S U L T

Let G = (V, E) be a graph on the vertex set V with edges

E ~ {(x, y)lx, y~ V,x~e y}

Assign a resistor with resistance R~y= 1 to the edge (x, y) for each
(x, y)~E, and define the simple random walk {X.}.>~o (or denote it by
(py~)) on G with a fixed starting point X0 = x by

~(deg(y)) 1 (y, z) ~ E
Pyz = P( X. + 1= z IX. = y) = (0, otherwise,

where

deg(y)=#{zeVb(y,z)6E}, VyEV

In this paper, we always assume D = supx deg(x) < ~ . Let

d(y, z) = min{k E N l ~zo, zl, ..., z~,

such t h a t z o = y , z k = z ,(z z 1, zi)6E, i<~k},
B~,N= {yE via(x, y)<~X},
bx, N = # (Bx, N),
and

Sx, N = {y~ Vld(x, y ) = N }

Further, we let

Tx=inf(keN[X~=x},
Tx, u = i n f { k c N I X k ~ S x , N},
Rx(G)= lim R(x, Sx, N),
N ~ o~

where R(x, Sx, N) is the effective resistance of Bx, N between x and Sx, N
which can be defined as follows (see Ref. 2)

R(x, Sx, N)= (deg(x) P(Tx> Tx, N I .g~0 = X)) -1

Then, the fractal dimension d(x), RW dimension dR(x), and resistance

dimension da(x) are defined respectively by
638 Zhou

d(x)= li--m ln bx'N

U~co l n N '

dR(x) = li-~ In E(Tx.uIXo = x )

N~o In N '

"2_l-~N ~ ~ In R(x, Sx.N) if Rx(G ) = oo

In N '
d~(x) =
ln(Rx(G) - R(x, Sx.N) ) otherwise
2-1imN ~ . In N '

F o r convenience, we fix a point x e V, and write B N = B ( N ) = B x , N,

SN = S(N) = Sx, N, by b N .= b(N) = bx, N, T N =
T ( N ) = Tx, N, and so on.
Let AN = (ax.y)x,y~B~, be defined by
1, if (x,y)eE
a~,y= 0, otherwise

Let DN be the diagonal matrix of dx.x-S for x e B N. Then the Laplace

o p e r a t o r of the finite graph ( B N , EN) can be defined by

AN=DN--AN,

where E N = E ~ { ( X, y) Ix, y e B N , X # y }. Let 22,Jr be the second smallest

eigenvalue of A N. Then the spectra of G is defined as
- - In 22~*
N
d2 = lira
N~ lnN
We now give the hypotheses (H1) and (H2) on the network G.
(H1) There exists an increasing sequence {N~} such that
In N~
i) lira = 1,
i~lnNi_ 1

ii) d = lira In b(N~)

i-~o l n N i
In Ni
iii) lim = oo
i~ In/
If ( v ( y ) ) y e B ( N m ) satisfies the following

v(z) p y ~ - V ( y ) = O , VyEB(Nm)\({x}uS(Nm));
x: (y,z) ~ E

v(x) = K; v(y) = O, gy ~ S(N.,),

then (v(y)) is called the potential on B(N,.) with voltage K.
Resistance, Random W a l k , and Fractal Dimensions 639

(H2) There are constants Coe(0, oo ), ko~>l and a subsequence

{N~}~>o such that the following holds for the potential (v(y)) on B(Nm)
with voltage 1
t "~ F ' ( m ) .I .(m) Ym > k o
~'~0 ~ m ~ " / m -- k o '

where

F(k"~ = max{v(y)[ y ~ (B(Nk)\B(N~= ~)) w S(Nk t)},

7~'~) = min{v(y) [ y ~ B(Nk)\B(Nk_ ,)}.

To prove the main result in this section, we begin with two lemmas.

Lemma 2.1. For any locally finite graph G, the following assertion is
correct

dn<.d
Proof By [Ref. 5, Lemma 1], we easily know that

R(X, SN) ~ ~1 N 2 d-~, V~>I

By definition, we have

N 2-dn+eJv = R(x, SN) ~/2~ N2-d ~N

where eN and e~v~ 0 as N ~ oo. So we have dn ~<d for the case: Rx(G)= oo.
We now prove dn ~<d for the case: Rx(G)< oo. For this purpose, we
choose Ni = 2 s for i >~0. Then

In Ni
lim - - - 1
i~oo lnNi_l
and for any N e [Ni_l, Ni)

- -b N~ <In -b(Ni)
in - ~ < In- b(Ni)
- in Ni
InN lnNi_x l n N i lnNi 1"

By this fact, one easily sees that

d = li--~ In b(N,)
i ~ oo in Ni
640 Zhou

Noting the proof of [Ref. 5, Proposition 1], we know that

ln(Rx(G)- R(x, S(Nk_ I) ))

In Nk_ 1

>~ In [(N~ - N k_ 1) 2. (b(N~) - b(Nk_ i))- 1]

lnNk 1

2 In (NNk--~k
- 1) In b(Nk) lnNk
>~ ~ + 2 - - - x - -
In Ark_ 1 In NK In N k 1

Clearly, we have

2 1 n ( Ark - - 1 )
\Nk- 1
lira -- 0
k~ co In Nk_ 1

Thus,

2 - dn ~> li---~ ln(Rx(G) - R(x, S(Nk_I )))

k~ lnNk i
In b(Nk)
>i 2- lira
k~ ~ In N~
-- In b ( N k )
>~ 2- lira
k+ ~ In Nk

Therefore

2-da> 2-d

Namely, da ~< d. 9

L e m m a 2.2. F o r such a sequence {N;}i~0 as in (H1) i), we have

( 2-1-~i~ ~
In R(x, Sx, Ni)
In N i
if R,( G ) = oo
dn = ~ ln(Rx(G) - R(x, S(N,)))
R~.(G) < O0
(2-1Tmi ~ 0~ In Ni , if

The proof is very easy, so is omitted.

Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 641

Theorem 2.1. Suppose that there is an increasing sequence (Ni}i>~o

such that both (H1) and (H2) are satisfied. Then

d R = d + 2-d~>~2

Proof In fact, we need only to show the following by means of

Lemma 2.1
dR~d+ Z-d~ (2.1)

For convenience, we denote BNk , SNk , bNk , Txk respectively by B k, Sk,

bk, Tk. We now prove Eq. (2.1) for the case:

R~,(G) = ~ (2.2)

For any y ~ V, let u~ be the mean number of visits of y by X n before

T,~ = Tx, N~, and
hy = P( Tx < Tm l Xo = y )
Then (see Ref. 2)
Uy = deg(y) vy
where
vy = R(x, S,,,)hy, Vy e B,,

Clearly, (vy) is the potential on the electrical network Bm with a unit total
current flow from x to Sm. The proof of [Ref. 5, Theorem 2] states

ETm= ~ u y < b m D . m a x {vy}--D'bmR(x, Sm)

y~Bm yeBm

where ET~ = E(Tx, Nm I Xo=X). By this fact, one has

dR<~ d+ 2 - d a
On the other hand, one gets that from the hypothesis (H2) and Ohm's law
(see Ref. 2)
m

ET~>~ 2 2 v>,
k ~ 1 y E Bk~\Bk L

m -- kO

>1 ~ ( b i - b i - l ) "~m~
Irn_kO >-Co(bm_ko
~" - nU l I J~r(
r n m~
i=1

>~Co(bin go-bl)(R(x, S m ) - R ( x , Sm_l) )

>1C1 bm(R(x, S,~) - R(x, Sm_~)) (2.3)
642 Zhou

for some constants Co, C1 ~ (0, oo). By Eq. (2.2), we easily know that there
exists a subsequence {nt}t~>~ such that

R(x,S.,)>>. 1+ R(x,S.,_I), VI>>.I (2.4)

However, from L e m m a 2.2, one easily finds a subsequence {k/}t~> 1 such

that
do = 2- lira In R(x, Sk~) (2.5)
t~ oo ln(N~,)

Then, there exists a c o m m o n subsequence {mz}l>.l such that Eq. (2.4)

holds if nt = mr, and Eq. (2.5) holds if kz = mr. Indeed, there exists an I' ~> 1
for any given l>~ 1, such that
nr <~kt < nr +l
Without loss of the generality, we may assume l' = 1. Let

Then, if mr < kt, we have

In R(x, Sk,) <~ ,hi(1 1 _ 1)R(x, Sin,)]

ln(Nk) ln(N,,,)
\ 7
1

~< ~
ln( Nm,) ln(Nm,)

F r o m this, we easily get

In R(x, Sin)
do = 2- lim
t~ ~ ln(Nm)

Obviously, Eq. (2.4) holds if n l = mr (V/~> 1). In other words, we also have

+ 1
R(x, Sm,)~(1 m-~-"~_l)R(x,Smt l)

Thus, Eq. (2.3) tells us that

ETm,>~Clbm,(m~--l) 1R(X, Sm)

Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 643

From this fact, one gets that immediately

dR>~d+ 2 - d a

Thus, we complete the proof of Eq, (2.1) under the hypothesis in Eq. (2.2).
We now prove Eq. (2.1) for the case:

Rx(G ) < oo (2.6)

Let

p., = Rx(G ) - R(x, Sin), Vm >~k o

It is clear that

lim Pm = 0
m~co

Then, there also exists a subsequence {nl}~>1 such that

-- P~- 1, Vl >/1

Meanwhile, Lemma2.2 tells us that there exists a subsequence {kt}t~>l

such that

d n = 2- lim In p~:
l . oo in N~I

Thus, there exists a l'/> 1 for any t ~> 1 such that t' 1` oo as l 1"oo, and

nr<.kz<nr+l

Denote (mj):>~ 1 = (n:,):>~ 1. Then

In Pk~ ~<In pn.

lnNk~ l n N . .

So we have

dn = 2- lim In lOm~
~ ~o in Nm.
and

Vl>~ 1
644 Zhou

From Eq. (2.3), we get

ETmt~ClbmtmlZPml l~Clbm~ml2pmt, Vl~>l

This proves the following under the condition of Eq. (2.6)

dR>d+ 2-dn

On the other hand, we let (V'y) and (Vy) be the potentials on the elec-
trical network Bm+~ and Bm respectively with a unit total current flow
from x to S,~+~ and S~. One can also get that from the hypothesis (H2)
and Ohm's law
F(m+l)~
m+ 1 R(X, Rm+ 1) - R ( x , Sm)

Note that (Vy) is the potential o n B m with voltage R(x, Sin) and v~) is the
potential o n O m with the voltage R(x, Sm+ ~). Thus, the maximum principle
deduces that
V y + ~Fm(re+l)'>,,'
+l ~"~ V y ,
Vy@B m

By this fact, we have

ETa+,= uy' = Z de g( y ) Vy
'
y~Bm+I y~Bm+l

<~ ~ deg(y)(vy+--m+~
F ( m + I)~,+~--m+l
/~ r ' ( m + l ) lWm+~
l, __bin)
y~Bm
~ E T m + ~/m
)/~ F( m+l
--m+l ) ~F(m+l)(h
+~--m+l ~m+l
-bin)
< ET m ~-a-~I)F(
--m+
m+I 1)h
~'rn + 1
m+l
< ET~ + D ~, bkr~~ (2.7)
k--2

where u~ is the main number of visits o f y by X,, before T~.u~+t.

Remember the hypothesis (H2). Then

r~k)<~Co~7~ko<<-Co~(R(x, S m + l ) - R ( x , Sk ~o)), k=ko +l,...,m+l

By the hypothesis (H~) and Eq. (2.7), one can easily show that
k0 m+ I
ETm+~<ET~+ y" Db~r~+ ~ DColbk(R(x, Sm+l)-R(x, Sk-ko))
k=2 k=k0+l
k0 re+l--k0
ET1+ D ~ 01,
" F k(k) + ~ DC o 1C ,bkpk
k=2 k=l
Resistance, RandomWalk, and Fractal Dimensions 645

for some constant C ' e ( 0 , oe). Then, by an argument similar to

[Ref. 5, (7)], one can show that there exist two constants Cl(e) and
C2(z) e (0, oo) for any given c e (0, 1) such that

ETm+1 ~ CI(~) -}- ~1"~

2 u l, e! ] ,A, T m
d+2--da +e Vm>~ko

It follows that
dn~d+ 2-da
The proof of Eq. (2.1) is complete. 9

Remark 2.1. From this proof, one easily sees that the conclusion of
Theorem 2.1 also holds if (H2) is replaced by the hypothesis (Hi), where
(Hi) There exists a constant ko = ko(a)~ N for any given e e (0, 1),
such that
F(mm)< m~7~"~)ko, Vm>k o

Obviously, (Hi) is weaker than (H2).

Remark 2.2. Telcs [Ref. 7, Proposition l j himsdf proves that Eq. (2.1)
also holds under some other conditions for strongly recurrent random walk
(i.e., dn <2). Thus, by Lemma 2.1, one easily finds that the conclusion of
Theorem 2.1 also holds if the condition in [Ref. 7, Proposition 1] is
satisfied. In fact, we can improve the relation of Eq. (2.1) for this kind of
graphs (see Proposition 3.2).

Remark 2.3. We can give an example such that the hypotheses (H l)

and (H2) are satisfied, but the condition of smooth in Ref. 5 is not satisfied.
We omit the example here. Moreover, the Harnack inequality for the
simple random walk on some strongly recurrent fractals has been obtained
in Ref. 4. By using the Harnack inequality, one can check that (HI) and
(//2) are satisfied for these strongly recurrent fractals.

3. REMARKS

In the present section, we give two remarks. First, we check that the
hypotheses (H1) and (H2) are satisfied if the graph is moderate in the sense
of Ref. 6.

Proposition 3.1. If there exists a sequence {ki}i>~o such that

d = lira In b(ki.___~)
i~ lnk, '
646 Zhou

and
b(ki)
Q~<---< ' Vi~>l
b(k~_ ~) "~ Q'
for some constants Q, Q'E (1, oo), then the hypothesis (H1) is satisfied.
Proof Let {ki}i~o be the sequence as described earlier. By the
hypothesis, one can show that there are constants C1, C2 e (0, oo) such that

C~ Qi <~b(k~) <~C2 Q'~, Vi >~0

Then
lira ln b(ki+ l)= 1
i~co lnb(kg)
and
lim lnb(ki) oo
i~oo In i

By these facts, we have

In k, ( nk, b(_k;))
ilimo~1 - ~ = l i r a \ l n b(ki) In i J

In b(ki)
= d -1 lira O0
i~o~ In i
and
In k i In ki In b(ki) In b(ki_ 1)
lira lira - - = 1
i~oolnki_l i-.oolnb(ki) lnb(ki_l) lnk~. 1

This implies that the hypothesis (HI) is satisfied. 9

Recall that a graph G is moderate if (see Ref. 6)
(i) G is locally finite and connected graph without loops,
(ii) there are constants Q, Q' with 1 < Q ~<Q' < ~ , and a subsequence
{ki}i>~l such that

In b(ki) b(ki)
d = lim - - , Q<<.~<~Q', vi>~2,
i~ co In ki b(ki_ 1)
R(x, S(k,))
Q<~R(x,S(ki_,))<~Q', Vi>~2, if R~(G) = o%

Q <~R~(G) - R(x, if(k,_ i_)) <~Q,, Vi ~>2, if R~(G) < oo,

Rx(G ) - R(x, S(ki))
Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 647

and

-1-[~g~ ~ in R(x, S(Kg)) if R:~(G) = oo

d. = 9 12
L 2-1-~i~ ~
In Ki '
l n ( R x ( G ) - R(x, S(K~)))
In Ki '
if R~(G) < cc

(iii) for the sequence of spheres S(ki) there is a sequence of

equipotential surfaces F(k~) such that F(kg) lies strictly between S(k~) and
S(ki+ ~).
Then, a moderate graph G will satisfy (H1) and (H2). We get the
following immediately from Theorem 2.1 and Proposition 3.1

= d + 2 - d~ - dR = 0, if G is moderate.

Therefore we can improve Theorem 1 of Ref. 6 to 2d 2 ~>d R if G is moderate,

where d2 was defined in Section 2.
Now we improve the relation in Eq. (2.1) for some graphs. For this
purpose, we introduce a hypothesis and then prove a lemma. As in
Section 2, (v(y))y~(N,~)\R<NI~ is called the potential on B(Nm)\B(Nf) with
voltage K if it satisfies the following for l < m

v(z) Pyz : V(y), Vy e (B(Nm)\B(N,))'S(Nm);

z:(y,z)~ E

v(y)=K, VyeS(NI); v(y) = 0, VyeS(Nm)

(H3) There are a subsequence {Ni}i>~o and a constant Coe(0, oo)

such that the following holds for any l and m with 0 ~<l v 1 < m and the
potential (v(y)) on B(N,.)\B(Ni) with voltage 1

C~F('~'I)~'~
v tl
3l(m'l),
tn -- 1
Wv l<n<m

where

K~m'') = max{v(y): y e (B(N,)\B(N,,_ 1)) w S ( N , _ i)}

~/(~'+) = min{v(y): y e B ( N , ) \ B ( N , _ 1)},
71'~'t) = 1

Lemma 3.1. Assume that the hypothesis (H3) is satisfied. If (v(y))

is the potential on B(Nm)\B(N~) with voltage K1 for some constant
648 Zhou

K~e(0, oo) and l<m, then there is a constant K2~(0, oo) which is
independent of K~, I and m such that

max v(y) <~K 2 min v(y), Vi= l..... m- - 1

.VC S( N~) y ~ S( Ni)

Proof. If K~ 4: 1, we can consider the potential (K 7 ~v(y))y~ B(N~)\e(N,)"

Without loss of the generality, we may assume K~= 1. Note that
1 = miny~s(N~) v(y) > maxy~s(Nm) v(y) = 0. Then, the maximum principle
implies that
max v ( y ) = min v(y)<~71 re't), Vi<l
y e S(Ni) y e B(Ni)\B(NI)

If i = / , we also have miny~s~N,)v(y)<~yl re't). On the other hand, it is

obvious that
rain v(y)>~ 7l"'t)
y E S(Ni)

Thus, we have
rain v(y) ~7 } re'l)
y E S(Ni)

Similarly, we can show that

max v ( y ) = max
y ~ S(Ni) y ~ (B(Nm)\B(Ni)) w S(Ni)

Clearly, we also have

max v , j j ~<F- i( +m , ll)
y ~ S(Ni)

Using (H3) we get the desired result immediately. 9

First, we consider the strongly recurrent graphs. We continue to use
the notation in Section 2 and introduce a hypothesis again.
(//4) There are a subsequence {Nt}i~o and constants ql,q2,
Q ~ (1, m ) such that
(i) qlb(Ne_l)~b(Ni)~q~b(N~_l), Vi~>l,
(ii) R(x, S(N~))>~ OR(x, S(Ni_l)), Vi>~ 1.

Proposition 3.2. Suppose that there is a subsequence {Ni}'i~>o such

that both (n3) and (H4) are satisfied, then

C.R(x, S(Ni) ) .b(Ni) <~ExT(Ni)~ C' .R(x, S(Ni) ) .b(Ni), Vi>O

for some constants C, C ' ~ (0, oo), where ExT(Ni)=E(T(Ni)IXo=x).
Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 649

Proof The upper bound is easy to get (see Ref. 5 or the proof of
Theorem 2.1). We now prove the lower bound. Let R(j, k) be the resistance
of B(Nk) between S(Nj) and S(Nk) for j-G<k, and (vx)~a~ul) be the poten-
tial on B(Ni) satisfying

v~ = R(x, S(Ni)); v~ = 0, Vy ~ S(N3

Then, by Lemma 3.1 there is a constant C~ E (0, oo) for io>~ 1 such that
R(x,S(Ni))=v~=v~- max Vy+ max Vy
y ~ S(Ni-io) Y ~ S(Ni-io)

= min (Vx-Vy)+ max vy

y ~ S ( N i - io ) y ~ S ( N i - io)

<<.R(x,S(Ni_~o)) +C~" rain Vy

y ~ S ( N i - io)

<~J~(x, S( Ni_,o) ) + C 1 9R( i - io, i)

By (H4) , we have
R(x, S(Ni)) >~QiO. R(x, S(Ni-io))

Therefore, there is a fixed io = io(e)>~ 1 for any eE (0, C11) such that

R(i-io, i)>~ ( c l l - e ) R ( x , S(Ni)), Vi>~io

By Lemma 3.1 and Ohm's law again, there is a constant C2 e (0, oo) such
that

ExT(Ni)>>- rain vx.b(Ni_io)

X ~ S ( N i - io)

>~C2 max vx.b(Ni_io)

x e S ( N i - io)

>~C2R(i- io, i). (b(Ni) - b(Ni_ ~o))

>>.C'2R(x, S(Ni)). b(N~) (by (H4))

for some constant C~ ~ (0, oo).

The proof is complete. 9
In fact, one can also get that from this proof

C . R ( i - 1, i) .b(Ni)<~ExT(N,)<~ C' . R ( i - 1, i) .b(Ni) , Vi>~ 1

for some constants C, C ' ~ (0, oo). To prove this, it suffices to show

R ( i - 1, i) >1CoR(x, S(Ni)), Vi >>.1

860/6/4-3
650 Zhou

for some constant Co E(0, oo). Indeed, this estimate comes immediately
from (H4)(ii) and Eq. (3.1) for i0 = 1.
We now consider the corresponding problem for the transient graph.
We first introduce a hypothesis.
(Hs) There are a subseries {Ni} and constants q, Q s (1, oo) such that
(i) C.qi<~b(N~)-b(N~_~)<~C'q ~, Vi~>I,
(ii) C . Q - ~ R ( i - I , i ) < ~ C ' Q -~, Vi~>I,
(iii) lira ( N i - N i _ l ) = oo

for some constants C, C' ~ (0, oo ), where R ( i - 1, i) has been defined in the
proof of Proposition 3.2.

Proposition 3.3. Suppose that there is a subsequence {N~}e~>o such

that both (H3) and (Hs) are satisfied. Then there are constants
CI, C2 e (0, oo) such that
C~ Q -ib(Ni) <~E x T(N,) <~C2 Q -~b(N,), V i >~0
Proof Let (Vy) be the potential on B(Ni) with voltage 1. Then there
are constants C3, C4 E (0, oo) such that

C3 2 Vy ~ E x r ( N i ) < ~ C 4 2 Vy
y ~ B(Ni) y EB(N,)

By Lemma 3.1, we know that there is a constant C5 e (0, oo) such that

min Vy>~C5 max Vy>~Cs.R]~(G).R(i-l,i)

yES(Ni-I) y~S(Ni-I )

Using the hypothesis (Hs) and noting Rz(G) < o% one has

Ex T(Ni) >~Ca" Cs "Rxl(G) ' R ( i - 1, i). b(Ni_ ,) >1C1Q~ ~b(Ui).

On the other hand, by Lemma 3.1 we have

i
ExT(Ni)<~C4 ~ b(Nt), max Vy
l=1 Y6 S(NI-I)
i
C6 2 b(Nl)" min Vy
l=1 Y~S(NI 1)

i
C6 Z b(N,) . R ( I - 1, i)
l=1
Resistance, Random Walk, and Fractal Dimensions 651

for some constant C 6 ~ (0, (30). For any l ~<i, we let (~y) be the potential on
(B( N,) \ B( N t- 1)) w S( N t_ 1) satisfying

~ y - - R ( l - 1, i), Vy~S(N~_I); fly=0, Vy~S(Ng)

Then, if y ~ S(Nl 1)

R(l-l,i)--vv=~v- max Vz+ max 15z

z~S(Ni-t) zES(Ni 1)

<-%R ( l - 1, i - 1) + C 7 rain Vz
zcS(Ni 1)

<. g ( l - 1, i - 1 ) + C 7 R ( i - 1, i)

for some constant C 7 ~: (0, oo). By induction on i - l = m , Lemma 3.1 and

the hypothesis (Hs), one can easily show that there is a constant
C8 e (0, oo), such that
i
R ( I - I,i)<~ C 8 ~ Q-9, Vl<~i
j=l

Therefore
i f
ExT(Ni)<~ C6"C8 ~ b(N,). ~ Q 9
l=1 j=l
i j
= C6" C8 2 2 b(Nl)Q-9
j=l /=1
i
C9 2 Q - i q J, (by (Hs))
J= 1

for some constant C 9 ~ (0, 00). Let lEvi be the number of all edges
c o n n e c t i n g S N_ 1 and SN- Since the graph G is with bounded degree, we
easily see that

IENI~C~o# {SN), VN~>I

for some constant C l O G ( 0 , oo). Short all nodes in S N together for

Ni_ 1<~N ~ Ni, Then, by the Shorting Law (see Ref. 2) one has
Ni
R(i-l,i)~> y~ tEN1-1
N=Ni-I+ 1

C~ol(b(Ni) - b ( X i - t )) - 1 (Ni-- Ni 1 - 1 ).
652 Zhou

Using the hypothesis (Hs)(iii), we k n o w

lim ( N i - N i _ 1 - 1 ) = ~ .

Thus
Q<q

Hence, there is a constant C~t e (0, o0) such that

E x T ( N i ) < ~ C 1 L Q - i q i, Vi>~I

The p r o o f is complete. 9

F r o m this proof, one also sees that if (Hs)(i) is replaced by

C . q i ~ b ( N i ) < ~ C ' q i, Vi~>I

or (Hs)(ii) is replaced by

C.Q-i<~Rx(G)_R(x,S(N,))<~C,Q i Vi~l
for some constants q, Q E (1, ~ ) and C1, C2~ (0, ~ ) , then the conclusion
of Proposition 3.3 holds as well.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author thanks to Prof. Shi Jian Yan and Prof. M u Fa Chen for
their encouragements and m a n y helpful suggestions. The a u t h o r also
expresses his sincere thanks to the referee for m a n y corrections and helpful
suggestions.

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