In this paper, we study run-and-tumble particles moving on two copies of the discrete torus (referred to as layers), where the switching rate between layers depends on a mean-field interaction among the particles. We derive the hydrodynamic limit of this model, as well as the large deviations from the hydrodynamic limit. Our main tool is the introduction of a weakly perturbed version of the system, whose hydrodynamic equations precisely characterize the trajectories associated with large deviations.

We introduce a general class of mean-field-like spin systems with random couplings that comprises both the Ising model on inhomogeneous dense random graphs and the randomly diluted Hopfield model. We are interested in quantitative estimates of metastability in large volumes at fixed temperatures when these systems evolve according to a Glauber dynamics, i.e. where spins flip with Metropolis transition probabilities at inverse temperature β. We identify conditions ensuring that with high probability the system behaves like the corresponding system where the random couplings are replaced by their averages. More precisely, we prove that the metastability of the former system is implied with high probability by the metastability of the latter. Moreover, we consider relevant metastable hitting times of the two systems and find the asymptotic tail behaviour and the moments of their ratio. This work provides an extension of the results known for the Ising model on the Erdős–Rényi random graph. The proofs use the potential-theoretic approach to metastability in combination with concentration inequalities.