  The temporal evolution of equilibrium fluctuations for surface steps of
monoatomic height is analyzed studying one-dimensional solid-on-solid models.
Using Monte Carlo simulations, fluctuations due to periphery-diffusion (PD) as
well as due to evaporation-condensation (EC) are considered, both for isolated
steps and steps confined by the presence of straight steps. For isolated steps,
the dependence of the characteristic power-laws, their exponents and
prefactors, on temperature, slope, and curvature is elucidated, with the main
emphasis on PD, taking into account finite-size effects. The entropic repulsion
due to a second straight step may lead, among others, to an interesting
transient power-law like growth of the fluctuations, for PD. Findings are
compared to results of previous Monte Carlo simulations and predictions based,
mostly, on scaling arguments and Langevin theory.
