Fractal dimensions and random walks on random trees. (Q1408728)

Motivated by the work of \textit{A. Telcs} [Probab. Theory Relat. Fields 82, 435--449 (1989; Zbl 0659.60135)], the authors determine the fractal dimension \(d_{\text{f}}\) of infinite spherically symmetric random trees in which all vertices at distance \(n\) from the root have the same degree \(d_n\), with \(\{d_n\}\) a sequence of independent random variables. If \(d_n\) takes the values 3 or 2 with probabilities \(q_n\) and \(1-q_n\), respectively, then \(d_{\text{f}}= (\log 2)\lim_n nq_n+ 1\) a.s. The authors show how \(d_{\text{f}}\) is closely related to the type of the simple random walks (SRW) on trees and prove that the SRW is a.s. transient if \(d_{\text{f}}\geq 2\) a.s. and a.s. recurrent if \(d_{\text{f}}< 2\) a.s. while if \(d_{\text{f}}= 2\) a.s. either a.s. transience or a.s. recurrence holds. Another type of random trees which are corresponding to branching processes in varying environments is also considered.