Mortality, Redundancy, and Diversity in Stochastic Search

We investigate a stochastic search process in one dimension under the competing roles of mortality, redundancy, and diversity of the searchers. This picture represents a toy model for the fertilization of an oocyte by sperm. A population of N independent and mortal diffusing searchers all start at x=L and attempt to reach the target at x=0. When mortality is irrelevant, the search time scales as τD/lnN for lnN≫1, where τD~L²/D is the diffusive time scale. Conversely, when the mortality rate μ of the searchers is sufficiently large, the search time scales as sqrt[τD/μ], independent of N. When searchers have distinct and high mortalities, a subpopulation with a nontrivial optimal diffusivity is most likely to reach the target. We also discuss the effect of chemotaxis on the search time and its fluctuations.