Limit theorems for loop soup random variables

Abstract: This article deals with limit theorems for certain loop variables for loop soups whose intensity approaches infinity. We first consider random walk loop soups on finite graphs and obtain a central limit theorem when the loop variable is the sum over all loops of the integral of each loop against a given one-form on the graph. An extension of this result to the noncommutative case of loop holonomies is also discussed. As an application of the first result, we derive a central limit theorem for windings of loops around the faces of a planar graphs. More precisely, we show that the winding field generated by a random walk loop soup, when appropriately normalized, has a Gaussian limit as the loop soup intensity tends to $\infty$, and we give an explicit formula for the covariance kernel of the limiting field. We also derive a Spitzer-type law for windings of the Brownian loop soup, i.e., we show that the total winding around a point of all loops of diameter larger than $\delta$, when multiplied by $1/\log\delta$, converges in distribution to a Cauchy random variable as $\delta \to 0$.