First-passage on disordered intervals

Abstract

We investigate the first-passage properties of nearest-neighbor hopping on a finite interval with disordered hopping rates. We develop an approach that relies on the backward equation, in conjunction with probability generating functions, to obtain all moments, as well as the distribution of first-passage times. Our approach is simpler than previous approaches that are based on either the forward equation or recursive method, in which the $m^{\rm th}$ moment requires all preceding moments. For the interval with two absorbing boundaries, we elucidate the disparity in the first-passage times between different realizations of the hopping rates and also unexpectedly find that the distribution of first-passage times can be \emph{bimodal} for certain realizations of the hopping rates.