title: Multidimensional reaction rate theory with anisotropic diffusion.
abstract: An analytical expression is derived for the rate constant that describes diffusive transitions between two deep wells of a multidimensional potential. The expression, in contrast to the Kramers-Langer formula for the rate constant, is valid even when the diffusion is highly anisotropic. Our approach is based on a variational principle for the reactive flux and uses a trial function for the splitting probability or commitor. The theoretical result is validated by Brownian dynamics simulations.
authors.affiliation: Mathematical and Statistical Computing Laboratory, Division of Computational Bioscience, Center for Information Technology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20819, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berezhkovskii
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20819, USA.
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greives
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Huan-Xiang
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D004058:Diffusion; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation