Time to reach the maximum for a stationary stochastic process

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the distribution of the time at which a stationary stochastic process reaches its maximum within a fixed interval, revealing symmetry properties for equilibrium processes and universal behaviors for diffusive particles in confining potentials.

Contribution

It provides exact calculations of the maximum time distribution for various processes, highlighting symmetry in equilibrium and universality in late-time regimes.

Findings

Distribution is symmetric for equilibrium processes due to time-reversal symmetry.

Scaled distribution becomes universal for confining potentials at late times.

Distribution is uniform in the bulk and has universal edge behaviors.

Abstract

We consider a one-dimensional stationary time series of fixed duration $T$. We investigate the time $t_{\rm m}$ at which the process reaches the global maximum within the time interval $[0,T]$. By using a path-decomposition technique, we compute the probability density function $P(t_{\rm m}|T)$ of $t_{\rm m}$ for several processes, that are either at equilibrium (such as the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process) or out of equilibrium (such as Brownian motion with stochastic resetting). We show that for equilibrium processes the distribution of $P(t_{\rm m}|T)$ is always symmetric around the midpoint $t_{\rm m}=T/2$, as a consequence of the time-reversal symmetry. This property can be used to detect nonequilibrium fluctuations in stationary time series. Moreover, for a diffusive particle in a confining potential, we show that the scaled distribution $P(t_{\rm m}|T)$ becomes universal, i.e., independent of the details of the potential, at late times. This distribution $P(t_{\rm m}|T)$ becomes uniform in the "bulk" $1\ll t_{\rm m}\ll T$ and has a nontrivial universal shape in the "edge regimes" $t_{\rm m}\to0$ and $t_{\rm m} \to T$. Some of these results have been announced in a recent Letter [Europhys. Lett. {\bf 135}, 30003 (2021)].