On gradient structures for Markov chains and the passage to Wasserstein gradient flows

Abstract

We study the approximation of Wasserstein gradient structures by their finite-dimensional analog. We show that simple finite-volume discretizations of the linear Fokker-Planck equation exhibit the recently established entropic gradient-flow structure for reversible Markov chains. Then we reprove the convergence of the discrete scheme in the limit of vanishing mesh size using only the involved gradient-flow structures. In particular, we make no use of the linearity of the equations nor of the fact that the Fokker-Planck equation is of second order.