First-passage time statistics for non-linear diffusion

Abstract: Evaluating the completion time of a random algorithm or a running stochastic process is a valuable tip not only from a purely theoretical, but also pragmatic point of view. In the formal sense, this kind of a task is specified in terms of the first-passage time statistics. Although first-passage properties of diffusive processes, usually modeled by different types of the linear differential equations, are permanently explored with unflagging intensity, there still exists noticeable niche in this subject concerning the study of the non-linear diffusive processes. Therefore, the objective of the present paper is to fill this gap, at least to some extent. Here, we consider the non-linear diffusion equation in which a diffusivity is power-law dependent on the concentration/probability density, and analyse its properties from the viewpoint of the first-passage time statistics. Depending on the value of the power-law exponent, we demonstrate the exact and approximate expressions for the survival probability and the first-passage time distribution along with its asymptotic representation. These results refer to the freely and harmonically trapped diffusing particle. While in the former case the mean first-passage time is divergent, even though the first-passage time distribution is normalized to unity, it is finite in the latter. To support this result, we derive the exact formula for the mean first-passage time to the target prescribed in the minimum of the harmonic potential.