xpected hitting time from i to j. The general recurrence relation for the expected hitting time is as follows: H(i,i)m 1 + Put tH(1,i 1)1- ,i— 1)+ &HUM; (1) for/ <i< L, with boundary condition H(j,()= 0. The interpreta- tion is as follows. Given the current state i, if ipsj, at least one transitio