Optimization of escape kinetics by reflecting and resetting

Abstract

Stochastic restarting is a strategy of starting anew. Incorporation of the resetting to the random walks can result in the decrease of the mean first passage time, due to the ability to limit unfavorably meandering, sub-optimal trajectories. In the following manuscript we examine how stochastic resetting influences escape dynamics from the $(-\infty,1)$ interval in the presence of the single-well power-law $|x|^\kappa$ potentials with $\kappa>0$. Examination of the mean first passage time is complemented by the analysis of the coefficient of variation, which provides a robust and reliable indicator assessing efficiency of stochastic resetting. The restrictive nature of resetting is compared to placing a reflective boundary in the system at hand. In particular, for each potential, the position of the reflecting barrier giving the same mean first passage time as the optimal resetting rate is determined. Finally, in addition to reflecting, we compare effectiveness of other resetting strategies with respect to optimization of the mean first passage time.