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News and Views
Nature 450, 40-41 (1 November 2007) | doi:10.1038/450040a; Published online 31 October 2007
Mathematical physics: First encounters
Michael F. Shlesinger1
Abstract
The idea of 'random walks' pops up in areas from biochemical reaction pathways to animals' foraging strategies. A central question — how likely is it that a walker is somewhere for the first time? — now has a simpler answer.
A walker sets out on a random walk, moving between many different sites in no particular order. Formally, knowing the probability of arriving at each of the sites for every possible number of steps provides all the information required to characterize the walk.
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