ON THE ESCAPE RATE FROM A METASTABLE STATE IN A NONPOTENTIAL SYSTEM

The escape rate from a metastable state is computed for a nonpotential system described by a general, multivariate, Fokker-Planck equation. The result is a generalization of the escape rate obtained by other authors in the case of potential systems. A straightforward application is found in the derivation of the Grote-Hynes result for chemical rates in solution. Another characteristic application is the theory of nucleation in nonlinear chemical systems far from equilibrium, which has been developed in a previous paper of the authors without a proper derivation of the nucleation rate formula [J. Stat. Phys. 50 (1988) 935]. © 1990.