Exact determinant formulas for coalescing particle systems

Abstract: When particles on a line collide, they may coalesce into one. Such systems model diverse phenomena, from voter dynamics and opinion formation to ancestral lineages in population genetics. Computing exact coalescence probabilities has been difficult because collisions reduce the particle count, while classical determinantal methods require a fixed count throughout. We introduce ghost particles: when two particles merge, the discarded trajectory continues as an invisible walker. Ghosts restore the missing dimension, enabling an exact determinantal formula. We prove that the probability of any specified coalescence pattern is given by a determinant. Integrating out ghost positions yields a closed-form ghost-free formula for the surviving particles. The framework applies to discrete lattice paths, birth-death chains, and continuous diffusions including Brownian motion.