Title: MEXIT: Maximal un-coupling times for stochastic processes,
Abstract: Classical coupling constructions arrange for copies of the \emph{same} Markov
process started at two \emph{different} initial states to become equal as soon
as possible. In this paper, we consider an alternative coupling framework in
which one seeks to arrange for two \emph{different} Markov (or other
stochastic) processes to remain equal for as long as possible, when started in
the \emph{same} state. We refer to this "un-coupling" or "maximal agreement"
construction as \emph{MEXIT}, standing for "maximal exit". After highlighting
the importance of un-coupling arguments in a few key statistical and
probabilistic settings, we develop an explicit \MEXIT construction for
stochastic processes in discrete time with countable state-space. This
construction is generalized to random processes on general state-space running
in continuous time, and then exemplified by discussion of \MEXIT for Brownian
motions with two different constant drifts.