Competition Interfaces and Second Class Particles 1

The one-dimensional nearest-neighbor totally asymmetric simple exclusion process can be constructed in the same space as a lastpassage percolation model in Z. We show that the trajectory of a second class particle in the exclusion process can be linearly mapped into the competition interface between two growing clusters in the lastpassage percolation model. Using technology built up for geodesics in percolation, we show that the competition interface converges almost surely to an asymptotic random direction. As a consequence we get a new proof for the strong law of large numbers for the second class particle in the rarefaction fan and describe the distribution of the asymptotic angle of the competition interface.