Exact solution of a boundary tumbling particle system in one dimension

Abstract

We derive the fully time-dependent solution to a run-and-tumble model for a particle which has tumbling restricted to the boundaries of a one-dimensional interval. This is achieved through a field-theoretic perturbative framework by exploiting an elegant underlying structure of the perturbation theory. We calculate the particle densities, currents and variance as well as characteristics of the boundary tumbling. The analytical findings, in agreement with Monte-Carlo simulations, show how the particle densities are linked to the scale of diffusive fluctuations at the boundaries. The generality of our approach suggests it could be readily applied to similar problems described by Fokker-Planck equations containing localised reaction terms.