Modelling rare events in complex systems

NUS mathematicians have developed efficient methods to study complex energy landscapes and thermally activated events. Many problems arising from applied sciences can be abstractly formulated as a system navigating over a complex energy landscape. Well-known examples include conformational changes of bio-molecules, chemical reactions, nucleation events during phase transitions, etc. The dynamics proceed by long waiting periods around metastable states followed by sudden jumps or transitions from one state to another.