The oriented swap process

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Particles labelled 1,...,n are initially arranged in increasing order. Subsequently, each pair of neighboring particles that is currently in increasing order swaps according to a Poisson process of rate 1. We analyze the asymptotic behavior of this process as n→∞. We prove that the space--time trajectories of individual particles converge (when suitably scaled) to a certain family of random curves with two points of non-differentiability, and that the permutation matrix at a given time converges to a certain deterministic measure with absolutely continuous and singular parts. The absorbing state (where all particles are in decreasing order) is reached at time (2+o(1))n. The finishing times of individual particles converge to deterministic limits, with fluctuations asymptotically governed by the Tracy--Widom distribution.