Finite-size effect in persistence in random walks

Abstract

We have investigated the random walk problem in a finite system and studied the crossover induced in the persistence probability by the system size. Analytical and numerical work show that the scaling function is an exponentially decaying function. We consider two cases of trapping, one by a box of size L and the other by a harmonic trap. Our analytic calculations are supported by numerical works. We also present numerical results on the harmonically trapped randomly accelerated particle and the randomly accelerated particle with viscous drag.