title: Trapping by clusters of traps
abstract: We study how the trapping kinetics is modified when traps are gathered in clusters. Recently, we have proposed a mean-field theory of trapping by clusters of traps valid at the initial stage of the process [J. Chem. Phys. 111, 711 (1999)]. Here by using the optimal-fluctuation method we incorporate fluctuation effects in the theory and discuss the manifestation of trap clustering in the kinetics over the entire time domain. Notable observations are that due to trap clustering (1) the trapping kinetics can be significantly modified from the very beginning of the process; (2) the fluctuation-induced kinetics exhibits more rich behavior; (3) the fraction of particles reacting according to a stretched-exponential law can be substantially increased.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China and Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 29, 117912 Moscow, Russia.
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Makhnovskii
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berezhkovskii
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Sheu
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lin