We consider a class of strongly edge-reinforced random walks, where the corresponding reinforcement weight function is nondecreasing. It is known, from Limic and Tarr\`{ e}s [Ann. Probab. (2007), to appear], that the attracting edge emerges with probability 1 whenever the underlying graph is locally bounded. We study the asymptotic behavior of the tail distribution of the (random) time of attraction. In particular, we obtain exact (up to a multiplicative constant) asymptotics if the underlying graph has two edges. Next, we show some extensions in the setting of finite graphs, and infinite graphs with bounded degree. As a corollary, we obtain the fact that if the reinforcement weight has the form $w(k)=k^{ \rho}$, $\rho>1$, then (universally over finite graphs) the expected time to attraction is infinite if and only if $\rho\leq1+\frac{ 1+\sqrt{ 5}}{ 2}$.
Categories: math.PR