Rare Fluctuations from Normally Hyperbolic Invariant Manifolds

Abstract

Freidlin--Wentzell theory converts weak-noise large deviations into a Hamiltonian variational problem. We study how a $k$-dimensional normally hyperbolic invariant manifold (NHIM) $N$ of the deterministic dynamics appears in this Hamiltonian system. Its zero-momentum copy $N_0=N\times\{0\}$ is invariant, but the Hamiltonian dynamics has $2k$ center directions near $N_0$: $k$ tangent to $N$ and $k$ conjugate covector directions. We construct the resulting local symplectic geometry and show that fluctuation extremals approaching $N_0$ backward in time at the strong normal rate form an $n$-dimensional exact Lagrangian invariant manifold carrying a single-valued action. A counterexample shows that a corresponding zero-energy section need not be normally hyperbolic within $H_{\mathrm{FW}}^{-1}(0)$. We then consider reaction dynamics. If a parameter moves a deterministic trajectory toward a codimension-one reactivity boundary, the minimum Freidlin--Wentzell action required to reach the boundary is quadratic in the distance from the threshold parameter. Its coefficient is determined by the relative motion of trajectory and boundary and by how effectively the available noise acts transversely. This deterministic boundary is distinct from a noise-dependent stochastic transition state or a committor surface. In a solvent--solute model, varying solvent mass moves the phase-space reactivity boundary while leaving the potential-energy surface fixed, changing the rare-event cost without changing the potential-energy barrier.