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Carlo Beenakker
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The region $Y$ introduces a delay time $\tau$, the average time between entry and exit. A simple shape-independent expression for $\tau$ results if the dynamics in $Y$ is ergodic:

$$\tau_{2D}=\frac{\pi A}{Wv},$$

with $A$ the area of the two-dimensional region $Y$ and $W$ the width of the tunnel. (The velocity of the particle is $v$.) Similarly, for a three-dimensional region $Y$ (volume $V$, cross-sectional area $S$ of the tunnel):

$$\tau_{3D}=\frac{4V}{Sv},$$

again shape-independent. Roughly speaking, ergodic dynamics results if the step length $l$ of the Brownian walk is less than the linear dimension of $Y$ but greater than the width of the tunnel, $W\ll l\ll \sqrt{A}$.

Carlo Beenakker
  • 188.1k
  • 18
  • 448
  • 651