Diffusion and convection after escape from a potential well

Abstract

Abstract The escape by diffusion of a particle from a potential well in one dimension is strongly influenced by the application of a field in the adjacent half-space. At long times the probability distribution becomes a uniformly moving and steadily broadening gaussian in this half-space. The mean time of escape from the well is given by a simple expression in terms of the mean first passage time and the coefficient of the long-time tail in the occupation probability of the well in the absence of the field. Transient effects in space and time are studied in explicit form for a parabolic potential well.