A universal property of random trajectories in bounded domains

Abstract

The celebrated invariance property states that particles entering a bounded domain, with isotropic and uniform incidence, spend on average $\langle \ell \rangle=4V/S$ length inside, no matter how they scatter. We show that this remarkable property is merely the infinite-length limit of an even broader law: for any curves randomly placed and oriented in space -- stochastic or deterministic, generated by ballistic or diffusive dynamics, with possible stopping or branching, in two or more dimensions -- $ \displaystyle \frac{1}{\langle \ell \rangle}= \frac{1}{\langle L\rangle}+ \frac{1}{\langle \sigma \rangle} $, with $\langle\ell\rangle$ its mean in-domain path, $\langle L\rangle$ its mean total length, and $\langle\sigma\rangle$ the mean chord of the domain, a known geometric quantity related to the volume-to-surface ratio. Derived solely from the kinematic formula of integral geometry, the result is independent of step-length statistics, memory, absorption, and branching, making it equally relevant to photons in turbid tissue, active bacteria in micro-channels, cosmic rays in molecular clouds, or neutron chains in nuclear reactors. Monte-Carlo simulations spanning straight needles, Y-shapes, and isotropic random walks in 2D and 3D confirm the universality and demonstrate how a local measurement of $\langle \ell \rangle$ yields $\langle L\rangle$ without ever tracking the full trajectory.