A one-dimensional coagulation-fragmentation process with a dynamical phase transition (Q424495)

A reversible Markovian coagulation-fragmentation process is introduced on the set of partitions of \(\{1,\dotsc,L\}\). Consider configurations \(\eta=(\eta_0,\dotsc,\eta_L)\) with components taking values in \(\{0,1\}\) and such that \(\eta_0=\eta_L=1\). One says that a site \(x\) is occupied by a particle if \({\eta_x=1}\). The continuous-time dynamics (heat bath dynamics) \(\{\eta(t)\}_{t\geq 0}\) is specified by a certain generator (depending on a parameter \(\lambda >0\)). Coagulation of two neighboring fragments (resp., fragmentation) is interpreted as the disappearance (resp., the creation) of a particle. It is well-known, see [\textit{G. Giacomin}, Random polymer models. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific (2007; Zbl 1125.82001)], that there exists a critical value \(\lambda_c\) such that, as \(L\to \infty\), the limit behavior of the typical fragment length is different for \(\lambda <\lambda_c\), \(\lambda >\lambda_c\) and \(\lambda =\lambda_c\). The authors study how the mixing time, i.e., the time to get close to an equilibrium in total variation, depends on \(L\) in these three phases for \(\lambda\). In particular, the mixing time is essentially of power order in \(L\) for \(\lambda >\lambda_c\) and much smaller for \(\lambda <\lambda_c\). The Peres-Winkler censoring inequalities [\textit{Y. Peres} and \textit{P. Winkler}, ``Can extra updates delay mixing?'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1112.0603}] play an essential role in the proof.