Convergence to the maximal invariant measure for a zero-range process with random rates

Enrique D. Andjel, Pablo A. Ferrari, Herve Guiol, Claudio Landim

Published 1999-11-25, updated 2000-03-14Version 2

We consider a one-dimensional totally asymmetric nearest-neighbor zero-range process with site-dependent jump-rates - an environment. For each environment p we prove that the set of all invariant measures is the convex hull of a set of product measures with geometric marginals. As a consequence we show that for environments p satisfying certain asymptotic property, there are no invariant measures concentrating on configurations with critical density bigger than $\rho^*(p)$, a critical value. If $\rho^*(p)$ is finite we say that there is phase-transition on the density. In this case we prove that if the initial configuration has asymptotic density strictly above $\rho^*(p)$, then the process converges to the maximal invariant measure.