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Related papers: Optimizing the Drift in a Diffusive Search for a R…

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Diffusion models have shown promising generative capabilities across diverse domains, yet aligning their outputs with desired reward functions remains a challenge, particularly in cases where reward functions are non-differentiable. Some…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-06-04 Xiner Li , Masatoshi Uehara , Xingyu Su , Gabriele Scalia , Tommaso Biancalani , Aviv Regev , Sergey Levine , Shuiwang Ji

This article gives conditions on a probability measure and drift field b such that for a given killing field k and a given time t > 0, there is function a such that there is a time homogeneous Markov process with infinitesimal generator…

Probability · Mathematics 2014-11-07 John M. Noble

The convergence, convergence rate and expected hitting time play fundamental roles in the analysis of randomised search heuristics. This paper presents a unified Markov chain approach to studying them. Using the approach, the sufficient and…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2013-12-10 Jun He , Feidun He , Xin Yao

In this review, we present the encounter-based approach to target search problems, in which the diffusive dynamics is described by the joint probability of the position of the particle and the number of its encounters with a given target…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-07-16 Denis S. Grebenkov

We analyze velocity-jump process models of persistent search for a single target on a bounded domain. The searcher proceeds along ballistic trajectories and is absorbed upon collision with the target boundary. When reaching the domain…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2016-06-22 Daniel B. Poll , Zachary P. Kilpatrick

What is the fastest way of finding a randomly hidden target? This question of general relevance is of vital importance for foraging animals. Experimental observations reveal that the search behaviour of foragers is generally intermittent:…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2009-11-11 O. Benichou , M. Coppey , M. Moreau , P-H. Suet , R. Voituriez

Let $(X_t)$ be a reflected diffusion process in a bounded convex domain in $\mathbb R^d$, solving the stochastic differential equation $$dX_t = \nabla f(X_t) dt + \sqrt{2f (X_t)} dW_t, ~t \ge 0,$$ with $W_t$ a $d$-dimensional Brownian…

Statistics Theory · Mathematics 2024-01-30 Richard Nickl

We consider an anisotropic needle-like Brownian particle with nematic symmetry confined in a $2D$ domain. For this system, the coupling of translational and rotational diffusion makes the process ${\bf x} (t)$ of the positions of the…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2017-02-08 Nicolas Levernier , Olivier Bénichou , Raphaël Voituriez

Diffusive search for a static target is a common problem in statistical physics with numerous applications in chemistry and biology. We look at this problem from a different perspective and investigate the statistics of encounters between…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2023-10-17 Denis S. Grebenkov

The movement of a particle described by Brownian motion is quantified by a single parameter, $D$, the diffusion constant. The estimation of $D$ from a discrete sequence of noisy observations is a fundamental problem in biological single…

Subcellular Processes · Quantitative Biology 2016-04-13 Peter K. Relich , Mark J. Olah , Patrick J. Cutler , Keith A. Lidke

The run-and-tumble walk, consisting in randomly reoriented ballistic excursions, models phenomena ranging from gas kinetics to bacteria motility. We evaluate the mean time required for this walk to find a fixed target within a 2D or 3D…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2016-07-18 Jean-Francois Rupprecht , Olivier Bénichou , Raphael Voituriez

This paper introduces Discrete Markov Probabilistic Models (DMPMs), a novel discrete diffusion algorithm for discrete data generation. The algorithm operates in discrete bit space, where the noising process is a continuous-time Markov chain…

Machine Learning · Statistics 2025-10-09 Le-Tuyet-Nhi Pham , Dario Shariatian , Antonio Ocello , Giovanni Conforti , Alain Durmus

A variety of systems in physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology are modeled in terms of diffusing "searchers" looking for "targets." Examples range from gene regulation, to cell sensing, to human decision-making. A commonly studied…

Probability · Mathematics 2022-08-24 Samantha Linn , Sean D Lawley

We study a stochastic process where an active particle, modeled by a one-dimensional run-and-tumble particle, searches for a target with a finite absorption strength in thermal environments. Solving the Fokker-Planck equation for a uniform…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2023-11-09 Byeong Guk Go , Euijin Jeon , Yong Woon Kim

We study the optimal placement problem of a stock trader who wishes to clear his/her inventory by a predetermined time horizon t, by using a limit order or a market order. For a diffusive market, we characterize the optimal limit order…

Trading and Market Microstructure · Quantitative Finance 2017-08-16 José E. Figueroa-López , Hyoeun Lee , Raghu Pasupathy

In this paper a new dissimilarity measure to identify groups of assets dynamics is proposed. The underlying generating process is assumed to be a diffusion process solution of stochastic differential equations and observed at discrete time.…

Statistical Finance · Quantitative Finance 2008-12-02 Alessandro De Gregorio , Stefano Maria Iacus

Brownian diffusion subject to stochastic resetting to a fixed position has been widely studied for applications to random search processes. In an unbounded domain, the mean first-passage time at a target site can be minimized for a…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-10-08 Pedro Julián-Salgado , Leonardo Dagdug , Denis Boyer

Of stochastic differential equations, diffusion processes have been adopted in numerous applications, as more relevant and flexible models. This paper studies diffusion processes in a different setting, where for a given stationary…

Probability · Mathematics 2024-12-31 Saber Jafarizadeh

The use of stochastic differential equations in multi-objective optimization has been limited, in practice, by two persistent gaps: incomplete stability analyses and the absence of accessible implementations. We revisit a drift--diffusion…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-03-05 Thiago Santos , Sebastiao Xavier

The drift diffusion model (DDM) is a model of sequential sampling with diffusion (Brownian) signals, where the decision maker accumulates evidence until the process hits a stopping boundary, and then stops and chooses the alternative that…

Econometrics · Economics 2022-10-12 Drew Fudenberg , Whitney K. Newey , Philipp Strack , Tomasz Strzalecki