title: First-passage-time exponent for higher-order random walks: using Lévy flights.
abstract: We present a heuristic derivation of the first-passage-time exponent for the integral of a random walk [Y. G. Sinai, Theor. Math. Phys. 90, 219 (1992)]. Building on this derivation, we construct an estimation scheme to understand the first-passage-time exponent for the integral of the integral of a random walk, which is numerically observed to be 0.220+/-0.001. We discuss the implications of this estimation scheme for the nth integral of a random walk. For completeness, we also address the n=infinity case. Finally, we explore an application of these processes to an extended, elastic object being pulled through a random potential by a uniform applied force. In so doing, we demonstrate a time reparametrization freedom in the Langevin equation that maps nonlinear stochastic processes into linear ones.
authors.affiliation: Lyman Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maimon