Mpemba effect on nonequilibrium active Markov chains.

Abstract

We study the Mpemba effect on a nonequilibrium Markov chain that imitates the active motion of random walkers in a discrete energy landscape. The broken detailed balance, rendered by the activity, gives rise to a unique anomalous relaxation in the system which is distinctly different than the typical equilibrium systems. We observe that the activity can both suppress or induce the Mpemba effect. Furthermore, we report an oscillatory Mpemba effect where the relaxation trajectories, emanating from the hot and cold initial conditions, cross each other multiple times, and this occurs due to the emergence of complex eigenvalues in the relaxation spectrum due to the activity. Our work reveals a possible pathway for studying the Mpemba effect in active living systems where broken detailed balance is crucial to achieve many biological functions.