Mean first passage times of processes driven by white shot noise - art. no. 036105

We consider mean first passage times in systems driven by white shot noise with exponentially distributed jump heights. Simple interpretable results a re obtained and the linkage between those results and the steady state prob ability density function of the process is presented. The virtual waiting-t ime or Takacs process (constant, losses) and the shot noise process with li near losses are analyzed in depth, along with a more complex process with u seful implications for the modeling of the soil moisture dynamics in hydrol ogy.