Related papers: Persistent search in confined domains: a velocity-…
Many scientific questions can be framed as asking for a first passage time (FPT), which generically describes the time it takes a random "searcher" to find a "target." The important timescale in a variety of biophysical systems is the time…
First passage time (FPT) theory is often used to estimate timescales in cellular and molecular biology. While the overwhelming majority of studies have focused on the time it takes a given single Brownian searcher to reach a target,…
We consider a minimal model of persistent random searcher with short range memory. We calculate exactly for such searcher the mean first-passage time to a target in a bounded domain and find that it admits a non trivial minimum as function…
Narrow escape and narrow capture problems which describe the average times required to stop the motion of a randomly travelling particle within a domain have applications in various areas of science. While for general domains, it is known…
A common scenario in a variety of biological systems is that multiple particles are searching in parallel for an immobile target located in a bounded domain, and the fastest among them that arrives to the target first triggers a given…
First passage phenomena arise across physics, biology, and finance when stochastic processes first reach a threshold, triggering downstream events. Examples include the irreversible exit from a domain, a biochemical reaction, a financial…
We study analytically an intermittent search process in one dimension. There is an immobile target at the origin and a searcher undergoes a discrete time jump process starting at $x_0\geq0$, where successive jumps are drawn independently…
In this chapter, we consider the problem of a non-Markovian random walker (displaying memory effects) searching for a target. We review an approach that links the first passage statistics to the properties of trajectories followed by the…
Finding a target in a complex environment is a fundamental challenge in nature, from chemical reactions to sperm reaching an egg. An effective strategy to reduce the time needed to reach a target is to deploy many searchers, increasing the…
First passage times (FPTs) are often used to study timescales in physical, chemical, and biological processes. FPTs generically describe the time it takes a random "searcher" to find a "target." In many systems, the important timescale is…
Migration of immune cells within the human body allows them to fulfill their main function of detecting pathogens. Adopting an optimal navigation and search strategy by these cells is of crucial importance to achieve an efficient immune…
We study analytically and numerically the mean fastest first-passage time (fFPT) to an immobile target for an ensemble of $N$ independent finite-speed random searchers driven by dichotomous noise and described by the telegrapher's equation.…
A random search of a partially absorbing target by a run-and-tumble particle in a confined one-dimensional space is investigated. We analytically obtain the mean searching time, which shows a non-monotonic behavior as a function of the…
Many biological, social, and communication systems can be modeled by ``searchers'' moving through a complex network. For example, intracellular cargo is transported on tubular networks, news and rumors spread through online social networks,…
The search for hidden targets is a fundamental problem in many areas of science, engineering, and other fields. Studies of search processes often adopt a probabilistic framework, in which a searcher randomly explores a spatial domain for a…
The time it takes the fastest searcher out of $N\gg1$ searchers to find a target determines the timescale of many physical, chemical, and biological processes. This time is called an extreme first passage time (FPT) and is typically much…
A random search is a stochastic process representing the random motion of a particle (denoted as the searcher) that is terminated when it reaches (detects) a target particle or area the first time. In intermittent search the random motion…
This paper explores the use of the standard approach for proving runtime bounds in discrete domains---often referred to as drift analysis---in the context of optimization on a continuous domain. Using this framework we analyze the (1+1)…
Random search for one or more targets in a bounded domain occurs widely in nature, with examples ranging from animal foraging to the transport of vesicles within cells. Most theoretical studies take a searcher-centric viewpoint, focusing on…
We consider one dimensional diffusive search strategies subjected to external potentials. The location of a single target is drawn from a given probability density function (PDF) $f_G(x)$ and is fixed for each stochastic realization of the…