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Condensed Matter > Statistical Mechanics
Title: Survival in a nanoforest of absorbing pillars
(Submitted on 16 Nov 2022 (v1), last revised 23 Feb 2023 (this version, v2))
Abstract: We investigate the survival probability of a particle diffusing between two parallel reflecting planes toward a periodic array of absorbing pillars. We approximate the periodic cell of this system by a cylindrical tube containing a single pillar. Using a mode matching method, we obtain an exact solution of the modified Helmholtz equation in this domain that determines the Laplace transform of the survival probability and the associated distribution of first-passage times. This solution reveals the respective roles of several geometric parameters: the height and radius of the pillar, the inter-pillar distance, and the distance between confining planes. This model allows us to explore different asymptotic regimes in the probability density of the first-passage time. In the practically relevant case of a large distance between confining planes, we argue that the mean first-passage time is much larger than the typical time and thus uninformative. We also illustrate the failure of the capacitance approximation for the principal eigenvalue of the Laplace operator. Some practical implications and future perspectives are discussed.
Submission history
From: Denis Grebenkov [view email][v1] Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:10:01 GMT (658kb)
[v2] Thu, 23 Feb 2023 10:15:41 GMT (658kb)
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