Mean-field treatment of exclusion processes with random-force disorder

The asymmetric simple exclusion process with random-force disorder is studied within the mean-field approximation. The stationary current through a domain with reversed bias is analyzed and the results are found to be in accordance with earlier intuitive assumptions. On the grounds of these results, a phenomenological random barrier model is applied in order to describe quantitatively the coarsening phenomena. Predictions of the theory are compared with numerical results obtained by integrating the mean-field evolution equations