Kramers Problem for a Multiwell Potential

M. Arrayás; I. Kh. Kaufman; D. G. Luchinsky; P. V. E. McClintock; S. M. Soskin

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2556

Kramers Problem for a Multiwell Potential

M. Arrayás, I. Kh. Kaufman, D. G. Luchinsky, P. V. E. McClintock, and S. M. Soskin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2556 – Published 20 March 2000

Abstract

Fluctuational escape from a multiwell potential is shown to display new features, as compared to the conventional single-well case. The flux $J$ may depend on friction $Γ$ exponentially strongly, over an exponentially long period; for small enough temperatures, $J (Γ)$ undergoes marked oscillations in the range of small $Γ$ , and the time evolution of $J$ changes drastically as $Γ$ exceeds a critical value.

Received 22 September 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2556

Authors & Affiliations

M. Arrayás^1,2, I. Kh. Kaufman^1,3, D. G. Luchinsky^1,3, P. V. E. McClintock¹, and S. M. Soskin⁴

¹Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, United Kingdom
²Instituut-Lorentz, Universiteit Leiden, Postbus 9506, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
³Russian Research Institute for Metrological Service, Ozernaya 46, 119361 Moscow, Russia
⁴Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine