Symmetric exclusion process with a localized source

Abstract

We investigate the growth of the total number of particles in a symmetric exclusion process driven by a localized source. The average total number of particles entering an initially empty system grows with time as √t in one dimension, t/lnt in two dimensions, and linearly in higher dimensions. In one and two dimensions, the leading asymptotic behaviors for the average total number of particles are independent of the intensity of the source. We also discuss fluctuations of the total number of particles and determine the asymptotic growth of the variance in one dimension.