Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-thermal-and-statistical-physics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-b/6/e/solution
Past exam of the thermal and statistical physics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Section B 6 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Farther than a few edge lengths from the root, replace the radial coordinate by a physical coordinate and smooth the master equation. It has the same constant-coefficient Fokker-Planck equation as in (b). Under the conventional first-time-derivative truncation,The radial drift is outward. For the tree is the infinite line, its radial distance is an unbiased reflected walk, and .
The root cannot absorb probability or allow negative radial distance. Write the equation as a continuity equation, using the Fokker-Planck probability currentThe appropriate continuum boundary condition is reflecting, or zero flux:It is not generally : that simpler condition is correct only when . With the finite-bias fixed-step Gaussian convention from (b), use instead; the drift sign and zero-current boundary condition are unchanged. A continuum boundary condition represents the microscopic root region after coarse-graining, rather than reproducing each discrete root probability at individual step times.
New to topics? Read the docs here!