\end{align*}

    Note that this also holds if $b$ has zeroes on the boundary (i.e. $b_v=0$ or $b_w=0$), because then both sides of the equations are zero.

    For the starting state we have the expression $\P^{(n)}(\start{b}) = (1-p)^{|b|} p^{n-|b|}$ so it splits into a product

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{(n)}(\start{b}) = \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b|_{[v+1,w-1]}}) \;\; \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b|_{[w,v]}})

    \end{align*}

    where we have to be careful to count the boudary only once.

    We now have

    \begin{align*}

		\P^{(n)}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A\cap B)

        &= \sum_{b\in\{0,1\}^n} \P^{(n)}_b(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A\cap B) \; \P^{(n)}(\start{b}) \\

        &= \sum_{b\in\{0,1\}^n}

            \P^{[v,w]}_{b|_{[v,w]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A)

            \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b|_{[v+1,w-1]}})

            \\ &\qquad\qquad\quad\cdot

            \P^{[w,v]}_{b|_{[w,v]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

            \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b|_{[w,v]}}) \\

        &= \left( \sum_{\substack{b_1\in\{0,1\}^{[v,w]}\\ b_v=b_w=1}}

            \P^{[v,w]}_{b_1}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A)

            \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b_1}) \right)

            \\ &\qquad \cdot

           \left( \sum_{b_2\in\{0,1\}^{[w,v]}}

            \P^{[w,v]}_{b_2}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

            \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b_2}) \right) \\

        &=  \P^{[v,w]}_{b_v=b_w=1}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A) \cdot

            \P^{[w,v]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

    \end{align*}

    The second equality follows in a similar way.

\end{proof}

	\begin{definition}[Connected patches]

		Let $P$ be an interval $[a,b]$. We say that $P$ is a patch of a particular run of the process if $P$ is a maximal connected component of the vertices that have ever become $0$ before termination. We denote the set of patches of a run by $\mathcal{P}$. For a patch $P$ let $P\in \mathcal{P}$ denote the event that one of the patches is equal to $P$. 

		In other words

		\begin{align*}

		P\in\mathcal{P} := \NZ{a-1} \cap \Z{a} \cap \Z{a+1} \cap \cdots \cap \Z{b-1} \cap \Z{b} \cap \NZ{b+1} .

		\end{align*}

		(In the extreme case when $P$ covers the whole cycle $[n]$, then instead $P\in\mathcal{P}:= \bigcap_{v\in[n]}\Z{v}$.)

	\end{definition} 

	We are often going to use the observation that we can partition the event $\Z{v}$ using patches:

	\begin{align*}

	\Z{v} = \dot\bigcup_{P\text{ patch } : v\in P} (P\in\mathcal{P})

	\end{align*}

The intuition of the following lemma is that the far right can only affect the zero vertex if there is an interaction chain forming, which means that every vertex should get resampled to $0$ at least once.

\begin{lemma}\label{lemma:probIndepNew}

	$\forall n\in \mathbb{N}_+:\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})-\P^{[n+1]}(\Z{1}) = \bigO{p^{n}}$. (Should be true with $\bigO{p^{n+1}}$ as well.)

\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}

	The proof uses induction on $n$. For $n=1$ the statement is easy, since $\P^{[1]}(\Z{1})=p$ and $\P^{[2]}(\Z{1})=p+p^2+\bigO{p^{3}}$.

	Induction step: suppose we proved the claim for $n-1$, then

	\begin{align*}

	\P^{[n+1]}(\Z{1})

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n+1}\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{the events form a partition}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P}) + \bigO{p^{n}}\tag*{$\left(\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=O(p^{k})\right)$}\\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \P^{[n-k+1]}(\NZ{1})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Claim~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \left(\P^{[n-k]}(\NZ{1})+\bigO{p^{n-k}}\right)+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by induction} \\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \P^{[n-k]}(\NZ{1})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{k}}\right)$}\\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[n]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Claim~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\P^{[n]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[n]}([n]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{n}}\right)$}\\	

	&=\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})	+ \bigO{p^{n}} 

	\end{align*}

\end{proof}

\begin{corollary}\label{cor:probIndepNew}

	$\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})-\P^{[m]}(\Z{1}) = \bigO{p^{\min(n,m)}}$. (Should be true with $\bigO{p^{\min(n,m)+1}}$ too.)

\end{corollary}

	The intuition of the following lemma is simmilar to the previous. The events on the two sides should be independent unless an interaction chain is forming, implying that every vertex gets resampled to $0$ at least once.

 	\begin{lemma}\label{lemma:independenetSidesNew}	

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{1}\cap \Z{k})=\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})+\bigO{p^{k}}=\left(\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{k}}.$$

 	\end{lemma}   

 	Note that using De Morgan's law and the inclusion-exclusion formula we can see that this is equivalent to saying:

 	$$\P^{[k]}(\NZ{1}\cap \NZ{k})=\P^{[k]}(\NZ{1})\P^{[k]}(\NZ{k})+\bigO{p^{k}}.$$

 	\begin{proof}

 		We proceed by induction on $k$. For $k=1,2$ the statement is trivial.

 		Now observe that:

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})=\sum_{P\text{ patch}\,:\,1\in P}\P^{[k]}(P\in\mathcal{P})$$

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})=\sum_{P\text{ patch}\,:\,k\in P}\P^{[k]}(P\in\mathcal{P})$$

 		Suppose we proved the statement up to $k-1$, then we proceed using induction similarly to the above

 		\begin{align*}

 		&\P^{[k]}(\Z{1}\cap \Z{k})=\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!\P^{[k]}([\ell],[r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\P^{[k]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!\P^{[k]}([\ell],[r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{k}}\right)$}\\	

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{\ell+1}\cap \NZ{r-1})

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}_{b_{r-1}=1}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\left(\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{\ell+1})

		\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{r-1})\right)

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}_{b_{r-1}=1}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by induction}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\left(\P^{[\ell+1,k]}(\NZ{\ell+1})

 		\P^{[1,r-1]}_{b_{r-1}=1}(\NZ{r-1})\right)

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Corrolary~\ref{cor:probIndepNew}}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\P^{[k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

 		&=\left(\sum_{\ell\in [k]}\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})\right)

 		\left(\sum_{r\in [k]}\P^{[k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})\right)

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{\ell}}\right)$}\\	

 		&=\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}}.	

 		\end{align*}

 	\end{proof}

	Again the intuition of the final theorem is simmilar to the previous lemmas. A site can only realise the length of the cycle after an interaction chain was formed around the cycle, implying that every vertex was resampled to $0$ at least once.

	\begin{theorem} $R^{(n)}=\E^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0})+\bigO{p^{n}}$ for all $m\geq n \geq 3$, thus

		$R^{(n)}-R^{(m)}=\bigO{p^{n}}$.

	\end{theorem}

	\begin{proof} In the proof we identify the sites of the $n$-cycle with the$\mod n$ remainder classes.

		\vskip-3mm

		\begin{align*}

			R^{(n)}

			&= \E^{(n)}(\Res{0}) \tag{by translation invariance}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k) \\		

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n+1}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, \underset{P_{v,w}:=}{\underbrace{[-v\!+\!1,w\!-\!1]}}\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) \P^{[w,n-v]}(\NZ{w,n-v}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P})  \left(\left(\P^{[w,n-v]}(\NZ{w})\right)^{\!\!2}\!+\!\bigO{p^{n-v-w+1}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNew}}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P})  \left(\P^{[-m,-v]}(\NZ{-v})\P^{[w,m]}(\NZ{w})\!+\!\bigO{p^{n-v-w+1}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNew}}\\	

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) \P^{[-m,-v]}(\NZ{-v})\P^{[w,m]}(\NZ{w}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{$|P_{v,w}|=v+w-1$}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{|P|<n}{P\text{ patch}:0\in P}}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:0\in P}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \\

			&= \E^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0})+\bigO{p^{n}}.\\[-3mm]										

		\end{align*}  

		\noindent Repeating the same argument with $m$ and comparing the results completes the proof.

	\end{proof} 	

\begin{comment}

		Let $N\geq \max(2n,2m)$, then

		\begin{align*}

		R^{(n)}

		&= \E^{(n)}(\Res{1}) \tag{by translation invariance}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k) \\

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r-1}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P})  +\bigO{p^{n}} \\	

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{[l,r]}_{b_{\ell}=b_{r}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P}) \P^{[r,\ell]}(\NZ{\ell,r}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\				

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \P^{[\overline{P}]}(\NZ{\partial P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \left(\left(\P^{[|\overline{P}|]}(\NZ{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{|\overline{P}|}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNew}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \left(\left(\P^{[N]}(\NZ{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{|\overline{P}|}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Corollary~\ref{cor:probIndepNew}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[-N,N]}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}\P^{[-N,N]}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNew}}\\

		&= \E^{[-N,N]}(\Res{1})+\bigO{p^{n}}.

		\end{align*}	

\end{comment}			

~

Questions:

\begin{itemize}

	\item Can we generalise the proof to other translationally invariant spaces, like the torus?

	\item In view of this proof, can we better characterise $a_k^{(k+1)}$?

	\item Why did Mario's and Tom's simulation show that for fixed $C$ the contribution coefficients have constant sign? Is it relevant for proving \ref{it:pos}-\ref{it:geq}?

\end{itemize} 

	%I think the same arguments would translate to the torus and other translationally invariant spaces, so we could go higher dimensional as Mario suggested. Then I think one would need to replace $|S_{><}|$ by the minimal number $k$ such that there is a $C$ set for which $S\cup C$ is connected. I am not entirely sure how to generalise Lemma~\ref{lemma:probIndep} though, which has key importance in the present proof.

\newpage

\section{General graphs proof}

We consider the following generalization of the Markov Chain.

Let $G=(V,E)$ be an undirected graph with vertex set $V$ and edge set $E$. We define a Markov Chain $\mathcal{M}_G$ as the following process: initialize every vertex of $G$ independently to 0 with probability $p$ and 1 with probability $1-p$. Then at each step, select a uniformly random vertex that has value $0$ and resample it and its neighbourhood, all of them independently with the same probability $p$. The Markov Chain terminates when all vertices have value $1$. We use $\P^{G}$ to denote probabilities associated to this Markov Chain and $\E^G$ to denote expectation values.

\begin{definition}[Events and notation] \label{def:events}

    Let $G=(V,E)$ be a graph. Let $S\subseteq V$ be any subset of vertices.

    \begin{itemize}

        \item Define $\Z{S}$ as the event that \emph{all} vertices in $S$ become zero at any point in time before the Markov Chain terminates.

        \item Define $\NZ{S}$ as the event that \emph{none} of the vertices in $S$ become zero at any point in time before the Markov Chain terminates.

        \item Define for any event $A$:

            \begin{align*}

                \P^{G}_S(A) &= \P^{G}(A \mid \text{All vertices in $S$ get initialized to }1)

            \end{align*}

            The condition does not apply to subsequent resamplings of vertices in $S$, it only specifies the initial assignment.

        \item Define $G\setminus S$ as the graph obtained by removing from $G$ all vertices in $S$ and edges adjacent to $S$.

        \item Define the $d$-neighbourhood $B^G(S;d)$ of $S$ as the set of vertices reachable from $S$ within $d$ steps.

    \end{itemize}

\end{definition}

The following Lemma says that if a set $S$ splits the graph in two, then those two parts become independent if the vertices in $S$ never become zero.

\begin{center}

    \includegraphics[scale=0.8]{diagram_splittinglemma.pdf}

\end{center}

\begin{lemma}[Splitting lemma] \label{lemma:splitting}

    Let $G=(V,E)$ be a graph. Let $S,X,Y\subseteq V$ be a partition of the vertices, such that $X$ and $Y$ are disconnected in the graph $G\setminus S$. Furthermore, let $A^X$ and $A^Y$ be any events that depends only on the sites in $X$ and $Y$ respectively. Then we have

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{G}_S(\NZ{S} \cap A^X \cap A^Y)

        &=

        \P^{G\setminus Y}_S(\NZ{S} \cap A^X)

        \; \cdot \;

        \P^{G\setminus X}_S(\NZ{S} \cap A^Y)

    \end{align*}

\end{lemma}

%\newcommand{\initone}[1]{\textsc{InitOne}_#1}

\begin{proof}

    We are considering three different Markov Chains, and the events $\NZ{S}$ in the different parts of the equation are events on different probability spaces. We will keep using the same notation for these events because it should be clear from the context which Markov Chain is being considered. We will consider paths (i.e. resampling sequences) and we will use a superscript to denote to which Markov Chain a path belongs. Let $\xi^G \in \NZ{S}$ be a path of the Markov Chain associated to the resample process on the graph $G$, that satisfies the event $\NZ{S}$. 

    From $\xi^G$ we will now construct paths $\xi^{G\setminus Y} \in \NZ{S}$ and $\xi^{G \setminus X} \in \NZ{S}$ of the other Markov Chains satisfying the corresponding events on those Markov Chains.

    Let us write the path $\xi^G$ as an initialization and a sequence of resamplings:

    \begin{align*}

        \xi^G=\left( (\text{initialize to }b), (z_1, v_1, r_1), (z_2, v_2, r_2), ..., (z_{|\xi^G|}, v_{|\xi^G|}, r_{|\xi^G|}) \right)

    \end{align*}

    where $b\in\{0,1\}^V$ is the initial state, $1 \leq z_i \leq |V|$ denotes the number of zeroes in the state before the $i$th step, $v_i\in V$ denotes the site that was resampled and $r_i\in \{0,1\}^{d(v_i)+1}$ is the result of the resampled bits. Here $d(v_i)$ is the degree of vertex $v_i$. By definition of the resample process, we have

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{G}_S(\xi^G) &=

        \P(\text{initialize }b \mid \text{initialize $S$ to }1)

        &= \frac{(1-p)^{|b|} p^{|V|-|b|}}{(1-p)^{|S|}} \cdot

        \frac{1}{z_1} \P(r_1) \cdot

        \frac{1}{z_2} \P(r_2) \cdots

        \frac{1}{z_{|\xi^G|}} \P(r_{|\xi^G|}) .

    \end{align*}

    Let $b|_{G\setminus X}$ be the restriction of $b$ to $G\setminus X$ and similar for $b|_{G\setminus Y}$.

    To construct $\xi^{G\setminus Y}$ and $\xi^{G\setminus X}$, start with $\xi^{G\setminus Y} = \left( (\text{initialize }b|_{G\setminus Y}) \right)$ and $\xi^{G\setminus X} = \left( (\text{initialize }b|_{G\setminus X}) \right)$. For each step $(z_i,v_i,r_i)$ in $\xi^G$ do the following: if $v_i \in X$ then append $(z^{X}_i,v_i,r_i)$ to $\xi^{G\setminus Y}$ and if $v_i \in Y$ then append $(z^{Y}_i,v_i,r_i)$ to $\xi^{G\setminus X}$.

    Here $z^{X}_i$ is the number of zeroes that were in $X$ and $z^{Y}_i$ is the number of zeroes in $Y$. We have $z_i = z^{X}_i + z^{Y}_i$ because $\xi^G\in\NZ{S}$ so there can not be any zero in $S$; they all have to be in $X$ or $Y$. Furthermore, this also makes sure that we always have either $v_i\in X$ or $v_i\in Y$ since only vertices that are zero can be chosen to resample.

    Now $\xi^{G\setminus Y}$ is a valid path of the Markov Chain associated to the graph $G\setminus Y$ (i.e. with vertices $X\cup S$), because in the original path $\xi^G$, all zeroes in $X$ have been resampled by resamplings in $X$. There can not be a vertex $v\in Y$ such that the resampling of $v$ changed a vertex in $X$, since $X$ and $Y$ are only connected through $S$ and we know $\xi^G\in\NZ{S}$.

    Vice versa, any two paths $\xi^{G\setminus Y}\in\NZ{S}$ and $\xi^{G\setminus X}\in\NZ{S}$ also induce a path $\xi^G\in\NZ{S}$ by simply interleaving the resampling positions. Note that $\xi^{G\setminus Y},\xi^{G\setminus X}$ actually induce $\binom{|\xi^{G\setminus Y}|+|\xi^{G\setminus X}|}{|\xi^{G\setminus Y}|}$ paths $\xi^G$ because of the possible orderings of interleaving the resamplings in $\xi^{G\setminus Y}$ and $\xi^{G\setminus X}$.

    For a fixed $\xi^{G\setminus Y},\xi^{G\setminus X}$ we will now show the following:

    \begin{align*}

        \sum_{\substack{\xi^G\in\NZ{S} \text{ s.t.}\\ \xi^G \text{ decomposes into } \xi^{G\setminus Y},\xi^{G\setminus X} }} \P^{G}_S(\xi^G) &=

        \sum_{\text{interleavings of }\xi^{G\setminus Y},\xi^{G\setminus X}} \P(\text{interleaving}) \cdot \P^{G\setminus Y}_S(\xi^{G\setminus Y}) \cdot \P^{G\setminus X}_S(\xi^{G\setminus X}) \\

        &= \P^{G\setminus Y}_S(\xi^{G\setminus Y}) \cdot \P^{G\setminus X}_S(\xi^{G\setminus X}) 

    \end{align*}

    where both sums are over $\binom{|\xi^{G\setminus Y}|+|\xi^{G\setminus X}|}{|\xi^{G\setminus Y}|}$ terms.

    \begin{align*}

    \end{align*}

    \begin{align*}

    \end{align*}

    \begin{center}

    \end{center}

    \begin{align*}

        \cdots \tag{rewrite fractions}\\

        &=

        \cdots

    \end{align*}

    In the grid we see that at every point the probabilities sum to 1, and we always reach the end, so we know the sum of all paths in the grid is 1. This proves the required equality.

    We obtain

    \begin{align*}

    \end{align*}

\end{proof}

\begin{lemma}[Conditional independence 2] \label{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}

	Let $v,w \in [n]$, and let $A$ be any event that depends only on the sites $[v,w]$ (meaning the initialization and resamples) and similarly $B$ an event that depends only on the sites $[w,v]$. (For example $\mathrm{Z}^{(s)}$ or ``$s$ has been resampled at least $k$ times'' for an $s$ on the correct interval). Then we have

	\begin{align*}

		\P^{(n)}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A\cap B)

		=

		\P_{b_v=b_w=1}^{[v,w]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A)

		\; \cdot \;

		\P^{[w,v]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B),

	\end{align*}

	and similarly

	\begin{align*}

		\P^{[n]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v)}\cap A\cap B)

		=

		\P_{b_v=1}^{[v]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v)}\cap A)

		\; \cdot \;

		\P^{[v,n]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v)}\cap B)

	\end{align*}

	where there is no longer a condition on the starting state.

\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}

    We start by relating the different Markov Chains.

    If $b$ is a starting state where all the zeroes are inside an interval $[v,w]$ (not on the boundary) then we can switch between the cycle and the finite chain:

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{(n)}_{b} (\NZ{v,w} \cap A) = \P^{[v,w]}_b (\NZ{v,w}\cap A) .

    \end{align*}

    If vertex $v$ and $w$ never become zero, then the zeroes never get outside of the interval $[v,w]$ and we can ignore the entire circle and only focus on the process within $[v,w]$.

    We can apply this to the result of Lemma \ref{lemma:splitting}, to get

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{(n)}_b(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)} \cap A \cap B)

        &=

        \P^{[v,w]}_{b|_{[v,w]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)} \cap A)

        \; \cdot \;

        \P^{[w,v]}_{b|_{[w,v]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)} \cap B)

    \end{align*}

    Note that this also holds if $b$ has zeroes on the boundary (i.e. $b_v=0$ or $b_w=0$), because then both sides of the equations are zero.

    For the starting state we have the expression $\P^{(n)}(\start{b}) = (1-p)^{|b|} p^{n-|b|}$ so it splits into a product

    \begin{align*}

        \P^{(n)}(\start{b}) = \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b|_{[v+1,w-1]}}) \;\; \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b|_{[w,v]}})

    \end{align*}

    where we have to be careful to count the boudary only once.

    We now have

    \begin{align*}

		\P^{(n)}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A\cap B)

        &= \sum_{b\in\{0,1\}^n} \P^{(n)}_b(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A\cap B) \; \P^{(n)}(\start{b}) \\

        &= \sum_{b\in\{0,1\}^n}

            \P^{[v,w]}_{b|_{[v,w]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A)

            \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b|_{[v+1,w-1]}})

            \\ &\qquad\qquad\quad\cdot

            \P^{[w,v]}_{b|_{[w,v]}}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

            \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b|_{[w,v]}}) \\

        &= \left( \sum_{\substack{b_1\in\{0,1\}^{[v,w]}\\ b_v=b_w=1}}

            \P^{[v,w]}_{b_1}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A)

            \P^{[v,w]}(\start{b_1}) \right)

            \\ &\qquad \cdot

           \left( \sum_{b_2\in\{0,1\}^{[w,v]}}

            \P^{[w,v]}_{b_2}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

            \P^{[w,v]}(\start{b_2}) \right) \\

        &=  \P^{[v,w]}_{b_v=b_w=1}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap A) \cdot

            \P^{[w,v]}(\mathrm{NZ}^{(v,w)}\cap B)

    \end{align*}

    The second equality follows in a similar way.

\end{proof}

	\begin{definition}[Connected patches]

		Let $P\subseteq V$ be a connected component of $G$. We say that $P$ is a patch of a particular run of the process if $P$ is a maximal connected component of the vertices that have ever become $0$ before termination. We denote the set of patches of a run by $\mathcal{P}$. For a patch $P$ let $\patch{P}$ denote the event that one of the patches is equal to $P$. 

		In other words

		\begin{align*}

		\patch{P} := \NZ{\overline{\partial}P} \cap \Z{P}.

		\end{align*}

		For a set of patches $\mathcal{P}$ 	

		\begin{align*}

			\mathcal{P}'\in \mathcal{P} := \bigcup_{P\in \mathcal{P}'}\NZ{\overline{\partial}P} \cap \Z{P}.

		\end{align*}

	\end{definition} 

	We are often going to use the observation that we can partition the event $\Z{v}$ using patches:

	\begin{align*}

	\Z{v} = \dot\bigcup_{P\text{ patch } : v\in P} (P\in\mathcal{P})

	\end{align*}

The intuition of the following lemma is that the far right can only affect the zero vertex if there is an interaction chain forming, which means that every vertex should get resampled to $0$ at least once.

\begin{lemma}\label{lemma:probIndepNewGen}

	$\forall n\in \mathbb{N}_+:\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})-\P^{[n+1]}(\Z{1}) = \bigO{p^{n}}$. (Should be true with $\bigO{p^{n+1}}$ as well.)

\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}

	The proof uses induction on $n$. For $n=1$ the statement is easy, since $\P^{[1]}(\Z{1})=p$ and $\P^{[2]}(\Z{1})=p+p^2+\bigO{p^{3}}$.

	Induction step: suppose we proved the claim for $n-1$, then

	\begin{align*}

	\P^{[n+1]}(\Z{1})

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n+1}\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{the events form a partition}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P}) + \bigO{p^{n}}\tag*{$\left(\P^{[n+1]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=O(p^{k})\right)$}\\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \P^{[n-k+1]}(\NZ{1})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Claim~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \left(\P^{[n-k]}(\NZ{1})+\bigO{p^{n-k}}\right)+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by induction} \\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\cdot \P^{[n-k]}(\NZ{1})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k+1]}_{b_{k+1}=1}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{k}}\right)$}\\	

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\P^{[n]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Claim~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

	&=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\P^{[n]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})+ \bigO{p^{n}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[n]}([n]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{n}}\right)$}\\	

	&=\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})	+ \bigO{p^{n}} 

	\end{align*}

\end{proof}

\begin{corollary}\label{cor:probIndepNewGen}

	$\P^{[n]}(\Z{1})-\P^{[m]}(\Z{1}) = \bigO{p^{\min(n,m)}}$. (Should be true with $\bigO{p^{\min(n,m)+1}}$ too.)

\end{corollary}

	The intuition of the following lemma is simmilar to the previous. The events on the two sides should be independent unless an interaction chain is forming, implying that every vertex gets resampled to $0$ at least once.

 	\begin{lemma}\label{lemma:independenetSidesNewGen}	

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{1}\cap \Z{k})=\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})+\bigO{p^{k}}=\left(\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{k}}.$$

 	\end{lemma}   

 	Note that using De Morgan's law and the inclusion-exclusion formula we can see that this is equivalent to saying:

 	$$\P^{[k]}(\NZ{1}\cap \NZ{k})=\P^{[k]}(\NZ{1})\P^{[k]}(\NZ{k})+\bigO{p^{k}}.$$

 	\begin{proof}

 		We proceed by induction on $k$. For $k=1,2$ the statement is trivial.

 		Now observe that:

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})=\sum_{P\text{ patch}\,:\,1\in P}\P^{[k]}(P\in\mathcal{P})$$

 		$$\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})=\sum_{P\text{ patch}\,:\,k\in P}\P^{[k]}(P\in\mathcal{P})$$

 		Suppose we proved the statement up to $k-1$, then we proceed using induction similarly to the above

 		\begin{align*}

 		&\P^{[k]}(\Z{1}\cap \Z{k})=\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!\P^{[k]}([\ell],[r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\P^{[k]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!\P^{[k]}([\ell],[r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k]}([k]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{k}}\right)$}\\	

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{\ell+1}\cap \NZ{r-1})

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}_{b_{r-1}=1}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\left(\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{\ell+1})

		\P^{[\ell+1,r-1]}(\NZ{r-1})\right)

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}_{b_{r-1}=1}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by induction}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[\ell+1]}_{b_{\ell+1}=1}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\left(\P^{[\ell+1,k]}(\NZ{\ell+1})

 		\P^{[1,r-1]}_{b_{r-1}=1}(\NZ{r-1})\right)

 		\P^{[r-1,k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Corrolary~\ref{cor:probIndepNewGen}}\\

 		&=\!\!\!\sum_{\ell, r\in [k]: \ell<r-1}\!\!\!

 		\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})

 		\P^{[k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

 		&=\left(\sum_{\ell\in [k]}\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})\right)

 		\left(\sum_{r\in [k]}\P^{[k]}([r,k]\in\mathcal{P})\right)

 		+\bigO{p^{k}} \tag*{$\left(\P^{[k]}([\ell]\in\mathcal{P})=\bigO{p^{\ell}}\right)$}\\	

 		&=\P^{[k]}(\Z{1})\P^{[k]}(\Z{k})

 		+\bigO{p^{k}}.	

 		\end{align*}

 	\end{proof}

	Again the intuition of the final theorem is simmilar to the previous lemmas. A site can only realise the length of the cycle after an interaction chain was formed around the cycle, implying that every vertex was resampled to $0$ at least once.

	\begin{theorem} $R^{(n)}=\E^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0})+\bigO{p^{n}}$ for all $m\geq n \geq 3$, thus

		$R^{(n)}-R^{(m)}=\bigO{p^{n}}$.

	\end{theorem}

	\begin{proof} In the proof we identify the sites of the $n$-cycle with the$\mod n$ remainder classes.

		\vskip-3mm

		\begin{align*}

			R^{(n)}

			&= \E^{(n)}(\Res{0}) \tag{by translation invariance}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k) \\		

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n+1}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, \underset{P_{v,w}:=}{\underbrace{[-v\!+\!1,w\!-\!1]}}\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) \P^{[w,n-v]}(\NZ{w,n-v}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P})  \left(\left(\P^{[w,n-v]}(\NZ{w})\right)^{\!\!2}\!+\!\bigO{p^{n-v-w+1}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNewGen}}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P})  \left(\P^{[-m,-v]}(\NZ{-v})\P^{[w,m]}(\NZ{w})\!+\!\bigO{p^{n-v-w+1}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNewGen}}\\	

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\smash{\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}}\P^{[-v,w]}_{b_{-v}=b_{w}=1}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) \P^{[-m,-v]}(\NZ{-v})\P^{[w,m]}(\NZ{w}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{$|P_{v,w}|=v+w-1$}\\

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{v+w\leq n}{v,w\in [n]}}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P_{v,w}\!\in\!\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{|P|<n}{P\text{ patch}:0\in P}}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \\[-1mm]

			&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:0\in P}\P^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0}\!\geq\! k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \\

			&= \E^{[-m,m]}(\Res{0})+\bigO{p^{n}}.\\[-3mm]										

		\end{align*}  

		\noindent Repeating the same argument with $m$ and comparing the results completes the proof.

	\end{proof} 	

\begin{comment}

		Let $N\geq \max(2n,2m)$, then

		\begin{align*}

		R^{(n)}

		&= \E^{(n)}(\Res{1}) \tag{by translation invariance}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k) \\

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r-1}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P})  +\bigO{p^{n}} \\	

		%&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{\underset{\ell\geq r}{\ell,r\in[n]}}\P^{[l,r]}_{b_{\ell}=b_{r}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, [\ell+1,r-1]\in\mathcal{P}) \P^{[r,\ell]}(\NZ{\ell,r}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\				

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \tag{partition}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{(n)}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) +\bigO{p^{n}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \P^{[\overline{P}]}(\NZ{\partial P}) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:eventindependenceNewGen}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \left(\left(\P^{[|\overline{P}|]}(\NZ{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{|\overline{P}|}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Lemma~\ref{lemma:independenetSidesNewGen}}\\

		&= \sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\sum_{P\text{ patch}:1\in P}^{|P|<n}\P^{[P\cup \partial P]}_{b_{\partial P}=1}(\Res{1}\geq k\,\&\, P\in\mathcal{P}) \left(\left(\P^{[N]}(\NZ{1})\right)^2+\bigO{p^{|\overline{P}|}}\right) +\bigO{p^{n}} \tag{by Corollary~\ref{cor:probIndepNewGen}}\\