Averaging and large deviation principles for fully-coupled piecewise deterministic Markov processes and applications to molecular motors

Abstract

We consider Piecewise Deterministic Markov Processes (PDMPs) with a finite set of discrete states. In the regime of fast jumps between discrete states, we prove a law of large number and a large deviation principle. In the regime of fast and slow jumps, we analyze a coarse-grained process associated to the original one and prove its convergence to a new PDMP with effective force fields and jump rates. In all the above cases, the continuous variables evolve slowly according to ODEs. Finally, we discuss some applications related to the mechanochemical cycle of macromolecules, including strained--dependent power--stroke molecular motors. Our analysis covers the case of fully--coupled slow and fast motions.