Ergodicity Breaking in Active Run-and-Tumble Particles in a Double-Well Potential

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a run-and-tumble particle in a double-well potential and demonstrate that, in stark contrast to Brownian particles, active dynamics can lead to strong ergodicity breaking. When the barrier height exceeds a critical threshold, the long-time position distribution depends crucially on the initial condition: if the particle starts within the basin of attraction of one well, it remains trapped there, while if it begins between the two basins, it can reach either well with a finite probability, which we compute exactly via hitting probabilities. Below the critical barrier height, ergodicity is restored and the system converges to a unique stationary distribution, which we derive analytically. Using this result, we also estimate the characteristic barrier crossing time and show that it violates Kramer's-Arrhenius law, and displays a divergence near the critical height following a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann-like form with an anomalous exponent $1/2$.