Explicit determination of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) for trapping problem on complex media is a theoretical challenge. In this paper, we study random walks on the Apollonian network with a trap fixed at a given hub node (i.e. node with the highest degree), which are simultaneously scale-free and small-world. We obtain the precise analytic expression for the MFPT that is confirmed by direct numerical calculations. In the large system size limit, the MFPT approximately grows as a power-law function of the number of nodes, with the exponent much less than 1, which is significantly different from the scaling for some regular networks or fractals, such as regular lattices, Sierpinski fractals, T-graph, and complete graphs. The Apollonian network is the most efficient configuration for transport by diffusion among all previously studied structure.
We carry out comparative studies of random walks on deterministic Apollonian networks (DANs) and random Apollonian networks (RANs). We perform computer simulations for the mean first passage time, the average return time, the mean-square displacement, and the network coverage for unrestricted random walk. The diffusions both on DANs and RANs are proved to be sublinear. The search efficiency for walks with various strategies and the influence of the topology of underlying networks on the dynamics of walks are discussed. Contrary to one's intuition, it is shown that the self-avoiding random walk…
We present a systematic analytical approach to the trapping of a random walk by a finite density rho of diffusing traps in arbitrary dimension d. We confirm the phenomenologically predicted e^{-c_d rho t^{d/2}} time decay of the survival probability, and compute the dimension dependent constant c_d to leading order within an eps=2-d expansion.
Although the title seems self-contradictory, it does not contain a misprint. The model we study is a seemingly minor modification of the "true self-avoiding walk" (TSAW) model of Amit, Parisi, and Peliti in two dimensions. The walks in it are self-repelling up to a characteristic time $T^*$ (which depends on various parameters), but spontaneously (i.e., without changing any control parameter) become self-trapping after that. For free walks, $T^*$ is astronomically large, but on finite lattices the transition is easily observable. In the self-trapped regime, walks are subdiffusive and intermitt…
Diffusion in the quenched trap model is investigated with an approach we call weak subordination breaking. We map the problem onto Brownian motion and show that the operational time is ${\cal S}_α= \sum_{x=-\infty} ^\infty (n_x)^α$ where $n_x$ is the visitation number at site $x$ . In the limit of zero temperature we recover the renormalization group (RG) solution found by Monthus. Our approach is an alternative to RG capable of dealing with any disorder strength.
In this paper, we study the dynamics of a random walker diffusing on a disordered one-dimensional lattice with random trappings. The distribution of escape probabilities is computed exactly for any strength of the disorder. These probabilities do not display any multifractal properties contrary to previous numerical claims. The explanation for this apparent multifractal behavior is given, and our conclusion are supported by numerical calculations. These exact results are exploited to compute the large time asymptotics of the survival probability (or the density) which is found to decay as $\ex…
Two random-walk related problems which have been studied independently in the past, the expected maximum of a random walker in one dimension and the flux to a spherical trap of particles undergoing discrete jumps in three dimensions, are shown to be closely related to each other and are studied using a unified approach as a solution to a Wiener-Hopf problem. For the flux problem, this work shows that a constant c = 0.29795219 which appeared in the context of the boundary extrapolation length, and was previously found only numerically, can be derived explicitly. The same constant enters in high…
Average trapping time (ATT) is central in the trapping problem since it is a key indicator characterizing the efficiency of the problem. Previous research has provided the scaling of a lower bound of the ATT for random walks in general networks with a deep trap. However, it is still not well understood in which networks this minimal scaling can be reached. Particularly, explicit quantitative results for ATT in such networks, even in a specific network, are lacking, in spite that such networks shed light on the design for optimal networks with the highest trapping efficiency. In this paper, we …
We study discrete random walks on the NFSFT and provide new methods to calculate the analytic solutions of the MFPT for any pair of nodes, the MTT for any target node and MDT for any source node. Further more, using the MTT and the MDT as the measures of trapping efficiency and diffusion efficiency respectively, we compare the trapping efficiency and diffusion efficiency for any two nodes of NFSFT and find the best (or worst) trapping sites and the best (or worst) diffusion sites. Our results show that: the two hubs of NFSFT is the best trapping site, but it is also the worst diffusion site, t…
We consider a mortal random walker on a family of hierarchical graphs in the presence of some trap sites. The configuration comprising the graph, the starting point of the walk, and the locations of the trap sites is taken to be exactly self-similar as one goes from one generation of the family to the next. Under these circumstances, the total probability that the walker hits a trap is determined exactly as a function of the single-step survival probability $q$ of the mortal walker. On the $n^{\rm th}$ generation graph of the family, this probability is shown to be given by the $n^{\rm th}$ it…
We study unbiased discrete random walks on the FSFT based on the its self-similar structure and the relations between random walks and electrical networks. First, we provide new methods to derive analytic solutions of the MFPT for any pair of nodes, the MTT for any target node and MDT for any starting node. And then, using the MTT and the MDT as the measures of trapping efficiency and diffusion efficiency respectively, we analyze the effect of trap's position on trapping efficiency and the effect of starting position on diffusion efficiency. Comparing the trapping efficiency and diffusion effi…
Efficiently controlling the diffusion process is crucial in the study of diffusion problem in complex systems. In the sense of random walks with a single trap, mean trapping time(MTT) and mean diffusing time(MDT) are good measures of trapping efficiency and diffusion efficiency respectively. They both vary with the location of the node. In this paper, we study random walks on T-fractal and provided general methods to calculate the MTT for any target node and the MDT for any source node. Using the MTT and the MDT as the measure of trapping efficiency and diffusion efficiency respectively, we co…
We study the mechanism behind dynamical trappings experienced during Wang-Landau sampling of continuous systems reported by several authors. Trapping is caused by the random walker coming close to a local energy extremum, although the mechanism is different from that of critical slowing down encountered in conventional molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo simulations. When trapped, the random walker misses entire or even several stages of Wang-Landau modification factor reduction, leading to inadequate sampling of configuration space and a rough density-of-states even though the modification fact…
We propose a minimal model of \emph{locally-activated diffusion}, in which the diffusion coefficient of a one-dimensional Brownian particle is modified in a prescribed way --- either increased or decreased --- upon each crossing of the origin. Such a local mobility decrease arises in the formation of atherosclerotic plaques due to diffusing macrophage cells accumulating lipid particles. We show that spatially localized mobility perturbations have remarkable consequences on diffusion at all scales, such as the emergence of a non-Gaussian multi-peaked probability distribution and a dynamical tra…
In general, the power-law degree distribution has profound influence on various dynamical processes defined on scale-free networks. In this paper, we will show that power-law degree distribution alone does not suffice to characterize the behavior of trapping problem on scale-free networks, which is an integral major theme of interest for random walks in the presence of an immobile perfect absorber. In order to achieve this goal, we study random walks on a family of one-parameter (denoted by $q$) scale-free networks with identical degree sequence for the full range of parameter $q$, in which a …
A growing self-avoiding walk (GSAW) is a stochastic process that starts from the origin on a lattice and grows by occupying an unoccupied adjacent lattice site at random. A sufficiently long GSAW will reach a state in which all adjacent sites are already occupied by the walk and become trapped, terminating the process. It is known empirically from simulations that on a square lattice, this occurs after a mean of 71 steps. In Part I of a two-part series of manuscripts, we consider simplified lattice geometries only two sites high ("ladders") and derive generating functions for the probability d…
An overview is presented of recent work on some statistical problems on multiparticle random walks. We consider a Euclidean, deterministic fractal or disordered lattice and N >> 1 independent random walkers initially (t=0) placed onto the same site of the substrate. Three classes of problems are considered: (i) the evaluation of the average number <S_N(t)> of distinct sites visited (territory explored) up to time t by the N random walkers, (ii) the statistical description of the first passage time t_{j,N} to a given distance of the first j random walkers (order statistics of exit times), and (…
Exploration and trapping properties of random walkers that may evanesce at any time as they walk have seen very little treatment in the literature, and yet a finite lifetime is a frequent occurrence, and its effects on a number of random walk properties may be profound. For instance, whereas the average number of distinct sites visited by an immortal walker grows with time without bound, that of a mortal walker may, depending on dimensionality and rate of evanescence, remain finite or keep growing with the passage of time. This number can in turn be used to calculate other classic quantities s…
The determination of mean first-passage time (MFPT) for random walks in networks is a theoretical challenge, and is a topic of considerable recent interest within the physics community. In this paper, according to the known connections between MFPT, effective resistance, and the eigenvalues of graph Laplacian, we first study analytically the MFPT between all node pairs of a class of growing treelike networks, which we term deterministic uniform recursive trees (DURTs), since one of its particular cases is a deterministic version of the famous uniform recursive tree. The interesting quantity is…
We use maximal entropy random walk (MERW) to study the trapping problem in dendrimers modeled by Cayley trees with a deep trap fixed at the central node. We derive an explicit expression for the mean first passage time from any node to the trap, as well as an exact formula for the average trapping time (ATT), which is the average of the source-to-trap mean first passage time over all non-trap starting nodes. Based on the obtained closed-form solution for ATT, we further deduce an upper bound for the leading behavior of ATT, which is the fourth power of $\ln N$, where $N$ is the system size. Th…
In this paper, we investigate random walks in a family of small-world trees having an exponential degree distribution. First, we address a trapping problem, that is, a particular case of random walks with an immobile trap located at the initial node. We obtain the exact mean trapping time defined as the average of first-passage time (FPT) from all nodes to the trap, which scales linearly with the network order $N$ in large networks. Then, we determine analytically the mean sending time, which is the mean of the FPTs from the initial node to all other nodes, and show that it grows with $N$ in t…
"All misfortune of man comes from the fact that he does not stay peacefully in his room", has once asserted Blaise Pascal. In the present paper we evoke this statement as the "Pascal principle" in regard to the problem of survival of an "A" particle, which performs a lattice random walk in presence of a concentration of randomly moving traps "B", and gets annihilated upon encounters with any of them. We prove here that at sufficiently large times for both perfect and imperfect trapping reactions, for arbitrary spatial dimension "d" and for a rather general class of random walks, the "A" partic…
In this paper, we propose a general framework for the trapping problem on a weighted network with a perfect trap fixed at an arbitrary node. By utilizing the spectral graph theory, we provide an exact formula for mean first-passage time (MFPT) from one node to another, based on which we deduce an explicit expression for average trapping time (ATT) in terms of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Laplacian matrix associated with the weighted graph, where ATT is the average of MFPTs to the trap over all source nodes. We then further derive a sharp lower bound for the ATT in terms of only the …
We investigate random walks on a lattice with imperfect traps. In one dimension, we perturbatively compute the survival probability by reducing the problem to a particle diffusing on a closed ring containing just one single trap. Numerical simulations reveal this solution, which is exact in the limit of perfect traps, to be remarkably robust with respect to a significant lowering of the trapping probability. We demonstrate that for randomly distributed traps, the long-time asymptotics of our result recovers the known stretched exponential decay. We also study an anisotropic three-dimensional v…
In this work we investigate the dynamics of random walk processes on scale-free networks in a short to moderate time scale. We perform extensive simulations for the calculation of the mean squared displacement, the network coverage and the survival probability on a network with a concentration $c$ of static traps. We show that the random walkers remain close to their origin, but cover a large part of the network at the same time. This behavior is markedly different than usual random walk processes in the literature. For the trapping problem we numerically compute $Φ(n,c)$, the survival probabi…
We study analytically the asymptotic behaviour of the average probability P(n,t) for the trajectory of a 2D Brownian particle wandering in the presence of randomly distributed traps to wind n times around a given point after a time t. It is shown that P(n,t)\sim\exp(-c\sqrt{t}) (1+x^2)^{-1} with x\sim n/\sqrt{t}, where the first exponent represents a well known long-time tail of the probability that a particle will not be trapped.
The Lévy walk process with rests is discussed. The jumping time is governed by an $α$-stable distribution with $α>1$ while a waiting time distribution is Poissonian and involves a position-dependent rate which reflects a nonhomogeneous trap distribution. The master equation is derived and solved in the asymptotic limit for a power-law form of the jumping rate. The relative density of resting and flying particles appears time-dependent and the asymptotic form of both distribution obey a stretched-exponential shape at large time. The diffusion properties are discussed and it is demonstrated that…
We consider the survival probability $f(t)$ of a random walk with a constant hopping rate $w$ on a host lattice of fractal dimension $d$ and spectral dimension $d_s\le 2$, with spatially correlated traps. The traps form a sublattice with fractal dimension $d_a<d$ and are characterized by the absorption rate $w_a$ which may be finite (imperfect traps) or infinite (perfect traps). Initial coordinates are chosen randomly at or within a fixed distance of a trap. For weakly absorbing traps ($w_a\ll w$), we find that $f(t)$ can be closely approximated by a stretched exponential function over the ini…
We consider a random walk in confined geometry, starting from a site and eventually reaching a target site. We calculate analytically the distribution of the occupation time on a third site, before reaching the target site. The obtained distribution is exact, and completely explicit in the case or parallepipedic confining domains. We discuss implications of these results in two different fields: The mean first passage time for the random trap model is computed in dimensions greater than 1, and is shown to display a non-trivial dependence with the source and target positions ; The probability o…
Designing optimal structure favorable to diffusion and effectively controlling the trapping process are crucial in the study of trapping problem---random walks with a single trap. In this paper, we study the trapping problem occurring on unweighted and weighted networks, respectively. The networks under consideration display the striking scale-free, small-world, and modular properties, as observed in diverse real-world systems. For binary networks, we concentrate on three cases of trapping problems with the trap located at a peripheral node, a neighbor of the root with the least connectivity, …
Extensive empirical investigation has shown that a plethora of real networks synchronously exhibit scale-free and modular structure, and it is thus of great importance to uncover the effects of these two striking properties on various dynamical processes occurring on such networks. In this paper, we examine two cases of random walks performed on a class of modular scale-free networks with multiple traps located at several given nodes. We first derive a formula of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) for a general network, which is the mean of the expected time to absorption originating from a sp…
We consider one-dimensional discrete-time random walks (RWs) in the presence of finite size traps of length $\ell$ over which the RWs can jump. We study the survival probability of such RWs when the traps are periodically distributed and separated by a distance $L$. We obtain exact results for the mean first-passage time and the survival probability in the special case of a double-sided exponential jump distribution. While such RWs typically survive longer than if they could not leap over traps, their survival probability still decreases exponentially with the number of steps. The decay rate o…
We study diffusion-reaction processes on periodic square planar lattices and simple cubic (sc) lattices. Considered first is a single diffusing reactant undergoing an irreversible reaction upon first encounter with a stationary co-reactant ["one-walker (1W) problem"]. We then generalize this scenario to allow for a competing reaction, i.e., instantaneous trapping of the diffusing reactant with probability $s$ at any vacant site before interacting with a (stationary) co-reactant at a target site. We determine the mean walklength of the diffusing reactant until irreversible reaction occurs. We u…
Recent findings suggest that processes such as the electronic energy transfer through the photosynthetic antenna display quantal features, aspects known from the dynamics of charge carriers along polymer backbones. Hence, in modeling energy transfer one has to leave the classical, master-equation-type formalism and advance towards an increasingly quantum-mechanical picture, while still retaining a local description of the complex network of molecules involved in the transport, say through a tight-binding approach. Interestingly, the continuous time random walk (CTRW) picture, widely employed i…
We investigate the dynamic relaxation of random walks on temporal networks by focusing in the recently proposed activity driven model [Perra \textit{et al.} Sci. Rep. srep00469 (2012)]. For realistic activity distributions with a power-law form, we observe the presence of a very slow relaxation dynamics compatible with aging effects. A theoretical description of this processes in achieved by means of a mapping to Bouchaud's trap model. The mapping highlights the profound difference in the dynamics of the random walks according to the value of the exponent $γ$ in the activity distribution.
We study how an evanescence process affects the number of distinct sites visited by a continuous time random walker in one dimension. We distinguish two very different cases, namely, when evanescence can only occur concurrently with a jump, and when evanescence can occur at any time. The first is characteristic of trapping processes on a lattice, whereas the second is associated with spontaneous death processes such as radioactive decay. In both of these situations we consider three different forms of the waiting time distribution between jumps, namely, exponential, long-tailed, and ultra-slow…
We provide an explicit formula for the global mean first-passage time (GMFPT) for random walks in a general graph with a perfect trap fixed at an arbitrary node, where GMFPT is the average of mean first-passage time to the trap over all starting nodes in the whole graph. The formula is expressed in terms of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Laplacian matrix for the graph. We then use the formula to deduce a tight lower bound for the GMFPT in terms of only the numbers of nodes and edges, as well as the degree of the trap, which can be achieved in both complete graphs and star graphs. We show that…
Fractal dimension is central to understanding dynamical processes occurring on networks; however, the relation between fractal dimension and random walks on fractal scale-free networks has been rarely addressed, despite the fact that such networks are ubiquitous in real-life world. In this paper, we study the trapping problem on two families of networks. The first is deterministic, often called $(x,y)$-flowers; the other is random, which is a combination of $(1,3)$-flower and $(2,4)$-flower and thus called hybrid networks. The two network families display rich behavior as observed in various r…
We show that the dissipative Abelian sandpile on a graph L can be related to a random walk on a graph which consists of L extended with a trapping site. From this relation it can be shown, using exact results and a scaling assumption, that the dissipative sandpiles' correlation length exponent νalways equals 1/d_w, where d_w is the fractal dimension of the random walker. This leads to a new understanding of the known results that ν=1/2 on any Euclidean lattice. Our result is however more general and as an example we also present exact data for finite Sierpinski gaskets which fully confirm our …
We develop a framework to determine the complete statistical behavior of a fundamental quantity in the theory of random walks, namely, the probability that $n_1$, $n_2$, $n_3$, . . . distinct sites are visited at times $t_1$, $t_2$, $t_3$, ... . From this multiple-time distribution, we show that the visitation statistics of 1d random walks are temporally correlated and we quantify the non-Markovian nature of the process. We exploit these ideas to derive unexpected results for the two-time trapping problem and also to determine the visitation statistics of two important stochastic processes, th…
A vast variety of real-life networks display the ubiquitous presence of scale-free phenomenon and small-world effect, both of which play a significant role in the dynamical processes running on networks. Although various dynamical processes have been investigated in scale-free small-world networks, analytical research about random walks on such networks is much less. In this paper, we will study analytically the scaling of the mean first-passage time (MFPT) for random walks on scale-free small-world networks. To this end, we first map the classical Koch fractal to a network, called Koch networ…
This work focuses on quantitative representation of transport in systems with quenched disorder. Explicit mapping of the quenched trap model to continuous time random walk is presented. Linear temporal transformation: $t\to t/Λ^{1/α}$ for transient process on translationally invariant lattice, in the sub-diffusive regime, is sufficient for asymptotic mapping. Exact form of the constant $Λ^{1/α}$ is established. Disorder averaged position probability density function for quenched trap model is obtained and analytic expressions for the diffusion coefficient and drift are provided.
We study a generalization of the standard trapping problem of random walk theory in which particles move subdiffusively on a one-dimensional lattice. We consider the cases in which the lattice is filled with a one-sided and a two-sided random distribution of static absorbing traps with concentration c. The survival probability Phi(t) that the random walker is not trapped by time t is obtained exactly in both versions of the problem through a fractional diffusion approach. Comparison with simulation results is made
We present analytical results for the distribution of first hitting times of non-backtracking random walks on finite Erdős-Rényi networks of $N$ nodes. The walkers hop randomly between adjacent nodes on the network, without stepping back to the previous node, until they hit a node which they have already visited before or get trapped in a dead-end node. At this point, the path is terminated. The length, $d$, of the resulting path, is called the first hitting time. Using recursion equations, we obtain analytical results for the tail distribution of first hitting times, $P(d>\ell)$, $\ell=0,1,2,…
We study random walks on a family of treelike regular fractals with a trap fixed on a central node. We obtain all the eigenvalues and their corresponding multiplicities for the associated stochastic master equation, with the eigenvalues being provided through an explicit recursive relation. We also evaluate the smallest eigenvalue and show that its reciprocal is approximately equal to the mean trapping time. We expect that our technique can also be adapted to other regular fractals with treelike structures.
The asymptotic probability distribution for a Brownian particle wandering in a 2D plane with random traps to enclose the algebraic area A by time t is calculated using the instanton technique.
Experimental studies of the diffusion of biomolecules in the environment of biological cells are routinely confronted with multiple sources of stochasticity, whose identification renders the detailed data analysis of single molecule trajectories quite intricate. Here we consider subdiffusive continuous time random walks, that represent a seminal model for the anomalous diffusion of tracer particles in complex environments. This motion is characterized by multiple trapping events with infinite mean sojourn time. In real physical situations, however, instead of the full immobilization predicted …
A random walk is performed on a disordered landscape composed of $N$ sites randomly and uniformly distributed inside a $d$-dimensional hypercube. The walker hops from one site to another with probability proportional to $\exp [- βE(D)]$, where $β= 1/T$ is the inverse of a formal temperature and $E(D)$ is an arbitrary cost function which depends on the hop distance $D$. Analytic results indicate that, if $E(D) = D^{d}$ and $N \to \infty$, there exists a glass transition at $β_d = π^{d/2}/Γ(d/2 + 1)$. Below $T_d$, the average trapping time diverges and the system falls into an out-of-equilibrium…
In this thesis, we study three physically relevant models of strongly correlated random variables: trapped fermions, random matrices and random walks. In the first part, we show several exact mappings between the ground state of a trapped Fermi gas and ensembles of random matrix theory. The Fermi gas is inhomogeneous in the trapping potential and in particular there is a finite edge beyond which its density vanishes. Going beyond standard semi-classical techniques (such as local density approximation), we develop a precise description of the spatial statistics close to the edge. This descripti…
We map the problem of diffusion in the quenched trap model onto a new stochastic process: Brownian motion which is terminated at the coverage "time" ${\cal S}_α=\sum_{x=-\infty} ^\infty (n_x)^α$ with $n_x$ being the number of visits to site $x$. Here $0<α=T/T_g<1$ is a measure of the disorder in the original model. This mapping allows us to treat the intricate correlations in the underlying random walk in the random environment. The operational "time" ${\cal S}_α$ is changed to laboratory time $t$ with a Lévy time transformation. Investigation of Brownian motion stopped at "time" ${\cal S}_α$ …
We study a model for a random walk of two classes of particles (A and B). Where both species are present in the same site, the motion of A's takes precedence over that of B's. The model was originally proposed and analyzed in Maragakis et al., Phys. Rev. E 77, 020103 (2008); here we provide additional results. We solve analytically the diffusion coefficients of the two species in lattices for a number of protocols. In networks, we find that the probability of a B particle to be free decreases exponentially with the node degree. In scale-free networks, this leads to localization of the B's at t…
Daily, are reported systems in nature that present anomalous diffusion phenomena due to irregularities of medium, traps or reactions process. In this scenario, the diffusion with traps or localised--reactions emerge through various investigations that include numerical, analytical and experimental techniques. In this work, we construct a model which involves a coupling of two diffusion equations to approach the random walkers in a medium with localised reaction point (or controlled diffusion). We present the exact analytical solutions to the model. In the following, we obtain the survival prob…
