Accumulation time of stochastic processes with resetting

Abstract

One of the characteristic features of a stochastic process under resetting is that the probability density converges to a nonequilibrium stationary state (NESS). In addition, the approach to the stationary state exhibits a dynamical phase transition, which can be interpreted as a traveling front separating spatial regions for which the probability density has relaxed to the NESS from those where it has not. One can establish the existence of the phase transition by carrying out an asymptotic expansion of the exact solution. In this paper we develop an alternative, direct method for characterizing the approach to the NESS of a stochastic process with resetting that is based on the calculation of the so-called accumulation time. The latter is the analog of the mean first passage time of a search process, in which the survival probability density is replaced by an accumulation fraction density. In the case of one-dimensional Brownian motion with Poissonian resetting, we derive the asymptotic formula $|x-x_0|\approx \sqrt{4rD}T(x)$ for $|x-x_0|\gg\sqrt{D/r}$, where $T(x)$ is the accumulation time at $x$, $r$ is the constant resetting rate, $D$ is the diffusivity and $x_0$ is the reset point. This is identical in form to the traveling front condition for the dynamical phase transition. We also derive an analogous result for diffusion in higher spatial dimensions and for non-Poissonian resetting. We then consider the effects of delays such as refractory periods and finite return times. In both cases we establish that the asymptotic behavior of $T(x)$ is independent of the delays. Finally, we extend the analysis to a run-and-tumble particle with resetting. We thus establish the accumulation time of a stochastic process with resetting as a useful quantity for characterizing the approach to an NESS (if it exists) that is relatively straightforward to calculate.