Accelerated first-passage dynamics in a non-Markovian feedback Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process

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Hauptverfasser: Coghi, Francesco, Duvezin, Romain, Wettlaufer, John S.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Coghi, Francesco
Duvezin, Romain
Wettlaufer, John S.
author_facet Coghi, Francesco
Duvezin, Romain
Wettlaufer, John S.
contents We study the first-passage dynamics of a non-Markovian stochastic process with time-averaged feedback, which we model as a one-dimensional Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process wherein the particle drift is modified by the empirical mean of its trajectory. This process maps onto a class of self-interacting diffusions. Using weak-noise large deviation theory, we calculate the leading order asymptotics of the time-dependent distribution of the particle position, derive the most probable paths that reach the specified position at a given time and quantify their likelihood via the action functional. We compute the feedback-modified Kramers rate and its inverse, which approximates the mean first-passage time, and show that the feedback accelerates dynamics by storing finite-time fluctuations, thereby lowering the effective energy barrier and shifting the optimal first-passage time from infinite to finite. Although we identify alternative mechanisms, such as slingshot and ballistic trajectories, we find that they remain sub-optimal and hence do not accelerate the dynamics. These results show how memory feedback reshapes rare event statistics, thereby offering a mechanism to potentially control first-passage dynamics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_04489
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Accelerated first-passage dynamics in a non-Markovian feedback Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process
Coghi, Francesco
Duvezin, Romain
Wettlaufer, John S.
Statistical Mechanics
Probability
We study the first-passage dynamics of a non-Markovian stochastic process with time-averaged feedback, which we model as a one-dimensional Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process wherein the particle drift is modified by the empirical mean of its trajectory. This process maps onto a class of self-interacting diffusions. Using weak-noise large deviation theory, we calculate the leading order asymptotics of the time-dependent distribution of the particle position, derive the most probable paths that reach the specified position at a given time and quantify their likelihood via the action functional. We compute the feedback-modified Kramers rate and its inverse, which approximates the mean first-passage time, and show that the feedback accelerates dynamics by storing finite-time fluctuations, thereby lowering the effective energy barrier and shifting the optimal first-passage time from infinite to finite. Although we identify alternative mechanisms, such as slingshot and ballistic trajectories, we find that they remain sub-optimal and hence do not accelerate the dynamics. These results show how memory feedback reshapes rare event statistics, thereby offering a mechanism to potentially control first-passage dynamics.
title Accelerated first-passage dynamics in a non-Markovian feedback Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process
topic Statistical Mechanics
Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.04489