title: Switching rates of multistep reactions.
abstract: We consider the switching rate of a metastable reaction scheme, which includes reactions with arbitrary steps, e.g., kA<-->(k+r)A (both forward and reverse reaction steps are allowed to happen). Employing a WKB approximation, controlled by a large system size, we evaluate both the exponent and the preexponential factor for the rate. The results are illustrated on a number of examples.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Matemáticas y Física Fundamental, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, C/ Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Escudero
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamenev