2,295 research outputs found
A note on the invariant distribution of a quasi-birth-and-death process
The aim of this paper is to give an explicit formula of the invariant
distribution of a quasi-birth-and-death process in terms of the block entries
of the transition probability matrix using a matrix-valued orthogonal
polynomials approach. We will show that the invariant distribution can be
computed using the squared norms of the corresponding matrix-valued orthogonal
polynomials, no matter if they are or not diagonal matrices. We will give an
example where the squared norms are not diagonal matrices, but nevertheless we
can compute its invariant distribution
Survival of interacting Brownian particles in crowded 1D environment
We investigate a diffusive motion of a system of interacting Brownian
particles in quasi-one-dimensional micropores. In particular, we consider a
semi-infinite 1D geometry with a partially absorbing boundary and the hard-core
inter-particle interaction. Due to the absorbing boundary the number of
particles in the pore gradually decreases. We present the exact analytical
solution of the problem. Our procedure merely requires the knowledge of the
corresponding single-particle problem. First, we calculate the simultaneous
probability density of having still a definite number of surviving
particles at definite coordinates. Focusing on an arbitrary tagged particle, we
derive the exact probability density of its coordinate. Secondly, we present a
complete probabilistic description of the emerging escape process. The survival
probabilities for the individual particles are calculated, the first and the
second moments of the exit times are discussed. Generally speaking, although
the original inter-particle interaction possesses a point-like character, it
induces entropic repulsive forces which, e.g., push the leftmost (rightmost)
particle towards (opposite) the absorbing boundary thereby accelerating
(decelerating) its escape. More importantly, as compared to the reference
problem for the non-interacting particles, the interaction changes the
dynamical exponents which characterize the long-time asymptotic dynamics.
Interesting new insights emerge after we interpret our model in terms of a)
diffusion of a single particle in a -dimensional space, and b) order
statistics defined on a system of independent, identically distributed
random variables
Transition probabilities for general birth-death processes with applications in ecology, genetics, and evolution
A birth-death process is a continuous-time Markov chain that counts the
number of particles in a system over time. In the general process with
current particles, a new particle is born with instantaneous rate
and a particle dies with instantaneous rate . Currently no robust and
efficient method exists to evaluate the finite-time transition probabilities in
a general birth-death process with arbitrary birth and death rates. In this
paper, we first revisit the theory of continued fractions to obtain expressions
for the Laplace transforms of these transition probabilities and make explicit
an important derivation connecting transition probabilities and continued
fractions. We then develop an efficient algorithm for computing these
probabilities that analyzes the error associated with approximations in the
method. We demonstrate that this error-controlled method agrees with known
solutions and outperforms previous approaches to computing these probabilities.
Finally, we apply our novel method to several important problems in ecology,
evolution, and genetics
Stochastic Chemical Reactions in Micro-domains
Traditional chemical kinetics may be inappropriate to describe chemical
reactions in micro-domains involving only a small number of substrate and
reactant molecules. Starting with the stochastic dynamics of the molecules, we
derive a master-diffusion equation for the joint probability density of a
mobile reactant and the number of bound substrate in a confined domain. We use
the equation to calculate the fluctuations in the number of bound substrate
molecules as a function of initial reactant distribution. A second model is
presented based on a Markov description of the binding and unbinding and on the
mean first passage time of a molecule to a small portion of the boundary. These
models can be used for the description of noise due to gating of ionic channels
by random binding and unbinding of ligands in biological sensor cells, such as
olfactory cilia, photo-receptors, hair cells in the cochlea.Comment: 33 pages, Journal Chemical Physic
Statistical mechanics of ecosystem assembly
We introduce a toy model of ecosystem assembly for which we are able to map
out all assembly pathways generated by external invasions. The model allows to
display the whole phase space in the form of an assembly graph whose nodes are
communities of species and whose directed links are transitions between them
induced by invasions. We characterize the process as a finite Markov chain and
prove that it exhibits a unique set of recurrent states (the endstate of the
process), which is therefore resistant to invasions. This also shows that the
endstate is independent on the assembly history. The model shares all features
with standard assembly models reported in the literature, with the advantage
that all observables can be computed in an exact manner.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Soliton and black hole solutions of su(N) Einstein-Yang-Mills theory in anti-de Sitter space
We present new soliton and hairy black hole solutions of su(N)
Einstein-Yang-Mills theory in asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. These
solutions are described by N+1 independent parameters, and have N-1 gauge field
degrees of freedom. We examine the space of solutions in detail for su(3) and
su(4) solitons and black holes. If the magnitude of the cosmological constant
is sufficiently large, we find solutions where all the gauge field functions
have no zeros. These solutions are of particular interest because we anticipate
that at least some of them will be linearly stable.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figures, minor changes, accepted for publication in
Physical Review
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