Spatial persistence and survival probabilities for fluctuating interfaces

We report the results of numerical investigations of the steady-state (SS) and finite-initial-conditions (FIC) spatial persistence and survival probabilities for (1+1)–dimensional interfaces with dynamics governed by the nonlinear Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) equation and the linear Edwards–Wilkinson (EW) equation with both white (uncorrelated) and colored (spatially correlated) noise. We study the effects of a finite sampling distance on the measured spatial persistence probability and show that both SS and FIC persistence probabilities exhibit simple scaling behavior as a function of the system size and the sampling distance. Analytical expressions for the exponents associated with the power-law decay of SS and FIC spatial persistence probabilities of the EW equation with power-law correlated noise are established and numerically verified.