Annihilation of point defects on a line.

We discuss the evolution of the distribution function of distances between point defects of opposite signs distributed on a line of finite length interacting via a potential attractive at short distances and repulsive at large distances. The standard deviation of the distribution grows quickly at short times, attains maximum, and decreases logarithmicaly at longer times. The distance between the defects increases monotonically and at equilibrium is about two times larger than the distance at which the repulsive force attains maximum. The distance dependent viscosity does not change qualitatively these conclusions, but only increases the time scale of evolution by one order of magnitude.