February 1965
·
287 Reads
·
3,050 Citations
Formulas are obtained for the mean first passage times (as well as their dispersion) in random walks from the origin to an arbitrary lattice point on a periodic space lattice with periodic boundary conditions. Generally this time is proportional to the number of lattice points. The number of distinct points visited after n steps on a k-dimensional lattice (with k ≥ 3) when n is large is a1n + a2n½ + a3 + a4n−½ + …. The constants a1 − a4 have been obtained for walks on a simple cubic lattice when k = 3 and a1 and a2 are given for simple and face-centered cubic lattices. Formulas have also been obtained for the number of points visited r times in n steps as well as the average number of times a given point has been visited. The probability F(c) that a walker on a one-dimensional lattice returns to his starting point before being trapped on a lattice of trap concentration c is F(c) = 1 + [c/(1 − c)] log c. Most of the results in this paper have been derived by the method of Green's functions.