Analytical results for random walk persistence.

In this paper, we present a detailed calculation of the persistence exponent straight theta for a nearly Markovian Gaussian process X(t), a problem initially introduced elsewhere in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1420 (1996)], describing the probability that the walker never crosses the origin. Resummed perturbative and nonperturbative expressions for straight theta are derived, which suggest a connection with the result of the alternative independent interval approximation. The perturbation theory is extended to the calculation of straight theta for non-Gaussian processes, by making a strong connection between the problem of persistence and the calculation of the energy eigenfunctions of a quantum mechanical problem. Finally, we give perturbative and nonperturbative expressions for the persistence exponent straight theta(X0), describing the probability that the process remains larger than X(0)sqrt[<X2(t)>].