Stretched Exponential Relaxation in the Biased Random Voter Model

We study the relaxation properties of the voter model with i.i.d. random bias. We prove under mild condions that the disorder-averaged relaxation of this biased random voter model is faster than a stretched exponential with exponent $d/(d+\alpha)$, where $0<\alpha\le 2$ depends on the transition rates of the non-biased voter model. Under an additional assumption, we show that the above upper bound is optimal. The main ingredient of our proof is a result of Donsker and Varadhan (1979).Comment: 14 pages, AMS-LaTe

Phase transitions for the long-time behavior of interacting diffusions

Article / Letter to editorMathematisch Instituu

Possible loss and recovery of Gibbsianness during the stochastic evolution of Gibbs measures

We consider Ising-spin systems starting from an initial Gibbs measure $\nu$ and evolving under a spin-flip dynamics towards a reversible Gibbs measure $\mu\not=\nu$. Both $\nu$ and $\mu$ are assumed to have a finite-range interaction. We study the Gibbsian character of the measure $\nu S(t)$ at time $t$ and show the following: (1) For all $\nu$ and $\mu$, $\nu S(t)$ is Gibbs for small $t$. (2) If both $\nu$ and $\mu$ have a high or infinite temperature, then $\nu S(t)$ is Gibbs for all $t>0$. (3) If $\nu$ has a low non-zero temperature and a zero magnetic field and $\mu$ has a high or infinite temperature, then $\nu S(t)$ is Gibbs for small $t$ and non-Gibbs for large $t$. (4) If $\nu$ has a low non-zero temperature and a non-zero magnetic field and $\mu$ has a high or infinite temperature, then $\nu S(t)$ is Gibbs for small $t$, non-Gibbs for intermediate $t$, and Gibbs for large $t$. The regime where $\mu$ has a low or zero temperature and $t$ is not small remains open. This regime presumably allows for many different scenarios

The renormalization transformation for two-type branching models

This paper studies countable systems of linearly and hierarchically interacting diffusions taking values in the positive quadrant. These systems arise in population dynamics for two types of individuals migrating between and interacting within colonies. Their large-scale space-time behavior can be studied by means of a renormalization program. This program, which has been carried out successfully in a number of other cases (mostly one-dimensional), is based on the construction and the analysis of a nonlinear renormalization transformation, acting on the diffusion function for the components of the system and connecting the evolution of successive block averages on successive time scales. We identify a general class of diffusion functions on the positive quadrant for which this renormalization transformation is well-defined and, subject to a conjecture on its boundary behavior, can be iterated. Within certain subclasses, we identify the fixed points for the transformation and investigate their domains of attraction. These domains of attraction constitute the universality classes of the system under space-time scaling.Comment: 48 pages, revised version, to appear in Ann. Inst. H. Poincare (B) Probab. Statis

Collision local time of transient random walks and intermediate phases in interacting stochastic systems

In a companion paper, a quenched large deviation principle (LDP) has been established for the empirical process of words obtained by cutting an i.i.d. sequence of letters into words according to a renewal process. We apply this LDP to prove that the radius of convergence of the moment generating function of the collision local time of two strongly transient random walks on Zd, d = 1, strictly increases when we condition on one of the random walks, both in discrete time and in continuous time. We conjecture that the same holds for two transient but not strongly transient random walks. The presence of these gaps implies the existence of an intermediate phase for the long-time behaviour of a class of coupled branching processes, interacting diffusions, respectively, directed polymers in random environments

Quenched LDP for words in a letter sequence

When we cut an i.i.d. sequence of letters into words according to an independent renewal process, we obtain an i.i.d. sequence of words. In the annealed large deviation principle (LDP) for the empirical process of words, the rate function is the specific relative entropy of the observed law of words w.r.t. the reference law of words. In the present paper we consider the quenched LDP, i.e., we condition on a typical letter sequence. We focus on the case where the renewal process has an algebraic tail. The rate function turns out to be a sum of two terms, one being the annealed rate function, the other being proportional to the specific relative entropy of the observed law of letters w.r.t. the reference law of letters, with the former being obtained by concatenating the words and randomising the location of the origin. The proportionality constant equals the tail exponent of the renewal process. Earlier work by Birkner considered the case where the renewal process has an exponential tail, in which case the rate function turns out to be the first term on the set where the second term vanishes and to be infinite elsewhere. We apply our LDP to prove that the radius of convergence of the moment generating function of the collision local time of two strongly transient random walks on Zd, d = 1, strictly increases when we condition on one of the random walks, both in discrete time and in continuous time. The presence of these gaps implies the existence of an intermediate phase for the long-time behaviour of a class of coupled branching processes, interacting diffusions, respectively, directed polymers in random environments

Kawasaki dynamics with two types of particles : critical droplets

This is the third in a series of three papers in which we study a two-dimensional lattice gas consisting of two types of particles subject to Kawasaki dynamics at low temperature in a large ¿nite box with an open boundary. Each pair of particles occupying neighboring sites has a negative binding energy provided their types are di¿erent, while each particle has a positive activation energy that depends on its type. There is no binding energy between particles of the same type. At the boundary of the box particles are created and annihilated in a way that represents the presence of an in¿nite gas reservoir. We start the dynamics from the empty box and are interested in the transition time to the full box. This transition is triggered by a critical droplet appearing somewhere in the box. In the ¿rst paper we identi¿ed the parameter range for which the system is metastable, showed that the ¿rst entrance distribution on the set of critical droplets is uniform, computed the expected transition time up to and including a multiplicative factor of order one, and proved that the nucleation time divided by its expectation is exponentially distributed, all in the limit of low temperature. These results were proved under three hypotheses, and involved three model-dependent quantities: the energy, the shape and the number of critical droplets. In the second paper we proved the ¿rst and the second hypothesis and identi¿ed the energy of critical droplets. In the third paper we prove the third hypothesis and identify the shape and the number of critical droplets, thereby completing our analysis. Both the second and the third paper deal with understanding the geometric properties of subcritical, critical and supercritical droplets, which are crucial in determining the metastable behavior of the system, as explained in the ¿rst paper. The geometry turns out to be considerably more complex than for Kawasaki dynamics with one type of particle, for which an extensive literature exists. The main motivation behind our work is to understand metastability of multi-type particle systems