Giant Fluctuations in Self-Propelled Particles with Age-Dependent Switching

Abstract

We investigate the transport and fluctuation properties of self-propelled particles whose motion is governed by an age-dependent phase-switching mechanism. The dynamics alternate between a Markovian downstream phase with a constant switching probability $r$ and a semi-Markovian upstream phase in which the age-dependent hazard probability $a/(b+c)$ decays with the internal clock $c$, representing persistent orientation. The time-averaged velocity, as an order parameter, shows a continuous transition at $a=1$ which separates an upstream-dominated ballistic regime ($a<1$) from an ergodic diffusive regime ($a>1$). Through generating-function methods and discrete-time moment recurrences, we derive exact expressions for the propagator and determine the long-time asymptotics of the mean displacement and variance. At the critical point $a=1$, the system exhibits giant fluctuations, with the variance scaling ballistically up to a logarithmic correction, $\mathrm{Var}(x_T) \propto T^2 / \log T$. These results demonstrate how slowly decaying reorientation probabilities lead to a marginal breakdown of the Central Limit Theorem, enabling unusually high-variance exploratory dynamics in biased environments.