1 Long-Lasting Effects of Random Perturbations on Dynamical Systems Eric Vanden-Eijnden Courant Institute 1.2 1 0.8 y 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 −0.2 −0.4 Frontier Probability Days Salt Lake City, 2016 −1 −0.5 0 x 0.5 1 Joint work with T. Grafke and T. Schaefer Freidlin-Wentzell approach to LDT Consider the SDE dX = b(X)dt + p " (X)dW (t) where W (t) is a Wiener process and " measures the noise amplitude. The forward Kolmogorov equation associated with this SDE is @t ⇢ = r · ⇣ ⌘ " b⇢ + 2 r(a⇢) , T )(x) a(x) = ( ⇣ ⌘ Using a WKB-type ansatz ⇢(x, t) = exp " 1 (x, t) , to leading order in ", (x, t) satisfies the Hamilton-Jacobi equation @t H(x, ✓) = b(x) · ✓ + 1 2 ✓ · a(x)✓ + H(x, r ) = 0, Variational representation formula for the solution (x, t) = inf {'(s),s2[0,t] : '(0)=x0 ,'(t)=x} Z t 1 ˙ 2 0 |' b(')|2 a ds, 1 (')u |u|2 = u · a a The role of the Quasi-Potential (QP) LDP also important for long time behavior via the solution of H(x, r ) = 0, which defines the quasipotential (x, y) = inf inf T >0 {'(t),t2[0,T ] : '(0)=x,'(T )=y} Z T b(')|2 a dt 1 ˙ 2 0 |' Quasipotential plays roughly the same role as the standard potential, and is important on long time-scales, T ⇣ exp(" 1C) for some C > 0. For example, around stable fixed point xa of ẋ = b(x), the nonequilibrium stationary density is ⇢(x) ⇣ exp ⇣ " 1 (xa, x) ⌘ and if xa, xb are two adjacent stable fixed points of ẋ = b(x), the mean first passage time from xa to xb is ⇣ ⌧ (xa, xb) ⇣ exp " 1 (xa, xb) ⌘ NB: the case of Systems in Detailed-Balance 1.2 First exit time for gradient systems: 1 0.8 For systems of the type dX = rU (X)dt + p y 0.6 " dW (t) 0.4 0.2 0 −0.2 • Quasipotential reduces to potential U (x). −0.4 −1 −0.5 0 x 0.5 1 • Mimimizer of action (aka maximum likelihood path, MLP) reduces to mimimum energy path (MEP), that is, geometric location of heteroclinic orbits joining two minima via a saddle point. A MEP can be characterized geometrically as a curve ⇤ satisfying 1.5 0 = [rU ]? 0.5 position where [·]? denotes the perpendicular projection to the curve. 1 0 −0.5 −1 −1.5 0 2 4 6 time 8 10 4 x 10 Illustration: Allen-Cahn equation in 2D Example: Allen-Cahn in one- and two-dimensions (Faris & Jona-Lasiinio (1d); E, Ren & V.-E.) Allen-Cahn energy for u : [0, 1]2 7! R: E(u) = Z [0,1]2 1 2 |ru|2 + 1 4 1 (1 u2 )2 dx with Dirichlet boundary condition: u = +1 on the right and left edges of [0, 1]2 , u = 1 on top and bottom ones. Two minimizers of the Allen-Cahn energy Simulations by W. Ren O o.j#O p ! #j/. ! What if the dynamics is not in detailed4 Examples balance? 4.1 SDE: The Maier-Stein Model As a first test for our method, we use the following example of a diffusion process (SDE) first proposed by Maier and Stein [12]: ( p 3 2 du D .u ! u ! ˇuv /dt C " d Wu .t/ (4.1) p 1084 M. HEYMANN AND E. VANDEN-EIJNDEN ▷ Example from Maier & Stein 2 dv D !.1 C u /v dt C " d Wv .t/ 0.4 0.3 0.2 v 0.1 0 −0.1 −1 β=1W and W are independent Wiener processes β=10 where and ˇ > 0 is a parameter. u v 0.4 (In [12], Maier and Stein use two parameters: #, which we set to 1 in this treatment, and ˛, which we call ˇ 0.3 in order to avoid confusion with the variable used to parametrize the path '.˛/.) 0.2 For all values of ˇ > 0,v the SDE (4.1) has two stable equilibrium points at .u; v/ D .˙1; 0/ and an unstable equilibrium point at .u; v/ D .0; 0/ (see Fig0.1 ure 4.1). The drift vector field 0 " ! 3 2 u ! u ! ˇuv (4.2) b.u; v/ D 2 /v −0.1 !.1 C u −0.5 0 0.5 1 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 u u is the gradient of a potential if and only if ˇ D 1. Detailed-balance holds only β = 1 action paths from .u; v/ D .!1; 0/ to F IGURE 4.1. Thefor minimum .u; v/ D .1; 0/ for the Maier-Stein model (4.1) shown on the top of For other values, the lines MLPofisthenodeterministic longer the reversed of the deterministic the flow velocity field (gray lines). The param- path eters are ˇ D 1 (left panel) and ˇ D 10 (right panel). When ˇ D 1, the minimum action path is simply the heteroclinic orbit joining .˙1; 0/ via .0; 0/; when ˇ D 10, nongradient effects take over, and the minimum action path is different from the heteroclinic orbit. The role of the Quasi-Potential (QP) LDP also important for long time behavior via the solution of H(x, r ) = 0, which defines the quasipotential (x, y) = inf inf T >0 {'(t),t2[0,T ] : '(0)=x,'(T )=y} Z T b(')|2 a dt 1 ˙ 2 0 |' Quasipotential plays roughly the same role as the standard potential, and is important on long time-scales, T ⇣ exp(" 1C) for some C > 0. For example, around stable fixed point xa of ẋ = b(x), the nonequilibrium stationary density is ⇢(x) ⇣ exp ⇣ " 1 (xa, x) ⌘ and if xa, xb are two adjacent stable fixed points of ẋ = b(x), the mean first passage time from xa to xb is ⇣ ⌧ (xa, xb) ⇣ exp " 1 (xa, xb) ⌘ Geometric interpretation and Numerical counterpart (x, y) = inf = inf T >0 {'(t),t2[0,T ] : '(0)=x,'(T )=y} Z T inf 0 {'(t),t2[0,T ] : '(0)=x,'(T )=y} Z T 1 ˙ 2 0 |' b(')|2 a dt ˙ a|b(')|a (|'| h', ˙ b(')ia) dt Reduce calculation of the quasipotential to that of a geodesic in a (degenerate) Finsler metric. Numerical counterpart: geodesic can be identified in practice by moving a parametrized curve in configuration space ) String method (gradient systems) and Minimum action method (non-gradient systems). (E, Ren & V.-E.; Heymann & V.-E.) Allen-Cahn/Cahn-Hilliard System Consider the SDE system with p 1 3 d = ( Q( ) )dt + "dW ↵ = ( 1, 2) and the matrix Q = ((1, 1), ( 1, 1)). This system does not satisfy detailed balance, as its drift is made of two gradient terms with incompatible mobility operators (namely Q and Long-lasting effects of small random perturbations 17 Id). 1.0 0.5 2 Fig. 2 Allen-Cahn/CahnHilliard toy ODE model, a = 0.01. The arrows denote the direction of the deterministic flow, the color its magnitude. The white dashed line corresponds to the slow manifold. The solid line depicts the minimizer, the dashed line the heteroclinic orbit. Markers are located at the fixed points (circle: stable; square: saddle). 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 1 0.5 1.0 1 2 This system does not satisfy detailed balance, as its drift is made of two gradient terms with incompatible mobility operators (namely Q and Id). Allen-Cahn/Cahn-Hilliard System Consider next the SPDE p 1 3 ) + ✏⌘(x, t) t = P ( xx + ↵ where P is an operator with zero spatial mean and ⌘(x, t) a spatiotemporal white-noise. A 19 X S B 20 1.0 Tobias Grafke, Tobias Schäfer and Eric Vanden-Eijnden 1.0 B 0.8 0.5 (x) s A 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 x 0.5 0.5 0.0 x 0.5 1.0 1.100 B 0.733 0.367 S 0.6 0.000 0.4 0.733 0.2 1.100 0.0 X 0.367 0.733 A 1.0 0.5 0.0 x 0.5 1.100 1.0 1.0 Fig. 4 The configurations A, B, S, X in space: fA and fB are the two stable fixed points, fS is the unstable fixed point on the separatrix in between. At point fX , the slow manifold intersects the separatrix. For P = 0.8 0.367 0.2 1.0 0.733 0.000 S 0.4 0.5 1.0 0.367 0.6 0.0 1.100 s Long-lasting effects of small random perturbations ∂ 2 the system is a mixture of a stochastic Allen-Cahn [2] and Cahn- Fig. 5 Transition pathways between two stable fixed points of equation (56) in the limit e ! 0. Left: heteroclinic orbit, defining the deterministic relaxation dynamics from the unstable point S down to either A or B. Right: Minimizer of the geometric action, defining the most probable transition pathway from A to B, following the slow manifold up to X, where it starts to nearly deterministically travel close to the separatrix into S. On this manifold the motion is driven solely by changing the mean via the slow 1 2 20 Tobias Grafke, Tobias Schäfer and Eric Vanden-Eijnden 1.0 B 1.0 1.100 B This system does not satisfy detailed balance, as 0.733 its drift is made of 0.8 0.8 0.367 two gradient terms with incompatible mobility operators (namely S Q and 0.6 0.6 0.000 S Id). 0.4 0.4 X s s Allen-Cahn/Cahn-Hilliard System 0.367 0.2 0.733 0.2 1.100 0.733 0.367 0.000 0.367 0.733 A A 1.100 1.100 0.0 0.0 Consider next the SPDE 1.0 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 x x p 1 3 ) + ✏⌘(x, t) t = P ( xx + Fig. 5 Transition pathways between two stable fixed points of equation (56) in the limit e ! 0. ↵ Left: heteroclinic orbit, defining the deterministic relaxation dynamics from the unstable point S down to either A or B. Right: Minimizer of the⌘(x, geometric the most probable where P is an operator with zero spatial mean and t)action, a defining spatiotransition pathway from A to B, following the slow manifold up to X, where it starts to nearly deterministically travel close to the separatrix into S. temporal white-noise. ong-lasting effects of small random perturbations 1.0 X (x) dx 0.5 0.0 On this manifold p the motion is driven solely by changing the mean via the slow 21 terms, f + Tobias e h(x,t), on aTobias time-scale ofand order in a. After two integrations Grafke, Schäfer EricO(1) Vanden-Eijnden in space, (60) can be written as 22 Fig. 7 Action along the min0.07 slow manifold imizer. Note that the action kfxx + f Xf 3 = lS (61) 0.06 string is non-zero climbing up the minimizer slow-manifold, but diminishes where l is a parameter: 0.05 As a result the slow manifold can be described as oneto zero already at X whenparameter it families of solutions parametrized by l 2 R – in general there is more 0.04 approaches the separatrix,than one family because the manifold can have different branches corresponding to before it reaches S. 0.03 R S A dS solutions of (59) with a different number of domain walls. The configuration labeled as fX in Fig. 4 shows the field at the intersection of one of these branches with the 0.02 separatrix. Since the deterministic drift along the slow manifold is small compared 0.5 to the O(1/a) drift0.01 induced by the Cahn-Hilliard term, one expects that the most probable transition 0.00 pathway will use this manifold as channel to escape the basin 1.0 of attraction of the 0.01 stable fixed points fA or fB . This intuition is confirmed by the 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 numerics, as shown next. R 0.2 0.4 connecting 0.6 0.8the two 1.0stable fixed points (x) A (x) dx Fig. 5 (left) shows the0.0 heteroclinic orbit fA and fB to the unstable configuration fS .sThe mean is preserved along this orbit, which involves a nucleation event at the boundaries followed by domain wall ig. 6 Projection of the heteroclinic orbit and the minimizer of the action functional a 2- the domain. The unstable fixed point fs , denoted by S, which also motioninto through imensional plane. The x-direction is proportional to its component in the direction of the we initial demarcates the position at which the separatrix the26spatially symmetric The numerical parameters used in these computations are Nsis=crossed, 100, Nis , x= B Bistable Reaction Network Consider the bi-stable chemical reaction network k0 k2 A ⌦ X, 2X + B ⌦ 3X k1 k3 with rates ki > 0, and where the concentrations of A and B are held constant. Its dynamics can be modeled as a Markov jump process (MJP) with generator (LR f )(n) = A+(n) (f (n 1) f (n)) + A (n) (f (n + 1) with the propensity functions 8 <A (n) + :A (n) = k0V + (k2/V )n(n 1) = k1n + (k3/V 2)n(n 1)(n 2) . f (n)) Bistable Reaction Network Denote by c = n/V the concentration of X, and normalize it by a typical concentration, ⇢ = c/c0. Set " = 1/(c0V ) and rescale time by ": ✓ 1 R (L✏ f )(⇢) = a+(⇢) (f (⇢ ✏ where f (⇢)) + a (⇢) (f (⇢ + ✏) ✏) 8 <a (⇢) + :a (⇢) ◆ f (⇢)) , = 0 + 2 ⇢2 = 1 ⇢ + 3 ⇢3 . Large deviation principle can be formally obtained via WKB analysis, 1 G(⇢) ✏ that is, by setting f (⇢) = e and expanding in ". To leading order in ✏, this gives an Hamilton-Jacobi operator associated with an Hamiltonian that is also the one rigorously derived in LDT: H(⇢, #) = a+(⇢)(e# 1) + a (⇢)(e # 1) . Bistable Reaction Network Consider N neighboring reaction compartments, each well-stirred, but with random jumps possible between neighboring compartments. Denote by ⇢i the concentration in the i-th compartment and refer to the PN ⇢ ⇢ vector as the complete state, = i=0 ⇢iêi. In this case, we obtain a di↵usive part of the generator, LD , coupling neighboring compartments. For a di↵usivity D, it is N ⇣ X D D ⇢) = ⇢ (L f )(⇢ ⇢i f (⇢ ✏ i=1 ⇢ ✏êi + ✏êi 1) + f (⇢ ✏êi + ✏êi+1) ⌘ ⇢) . 2f (⇢ The process associated with this generator also admits a large deviation principle with Hamiltonian ⇢, # ) = D H D (⇢ N X i=1 ⇣ ⇢ i e #i 1 #i + e#i+1 #i Full Hamiltonian becomes ⇢, # ) = H D (⇢ ⇢, # ) + H(⇢ N X i=1 H R (⇢i, #i) ⌘ 2 , Bistable Reaction Network 32 Tobias Grafke, Tobias Schäfer and Eric Vanden-Eijnden string forward minimizer backward minimizer 1.6 1.4 x2 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.0 x1 1.2 1.4 1.6 Fig. 15 Bi-Stable reaction-diffusion model with N = 2 reaction cells. Show are the forward (red) and backward (green) transitions between the two stable fixed points, in comparison to the heteroclinic orbit (dashed). The flow-lines depict the deterministic dynamics, their magnitude is indicated by the background shading. Fig. 16 Action densities Continuous limit in space e 19. 1.0 1.600 1.478 0.8 1.356 1.233 0.6 s Rescale 1.111 0.989 0.4 ⇢j ! h⇢(jh), ✓j ! ✓(jh), 0.2 0.867 a±(⇢j ) ! ha±(⇢(jh)) 0.744 0.622 0.0 0.0 arrive 0.2 0.4at In the limit h ! 0, if we scale D ! Dh 2 we Z ⇣ 0.500 0.6 0.8 1.0 x ⌘ 2 H d(⇢, ✓) =Figure D 19.⇢|@ ✓@x2⇢ Schlögl dx . model, forward transition, for D = 6, x ✓| + Spatially continuous 512, Nx = 32. The location of the saddle point is marked with a dashed line. 1.0 1.600 1.0 1.600 1.478 0.8 1.478 0.8 1.356 1.356 1.233 1.233 0.6 0.6 1.111 s s 1.111 0.989 0.4 0.989 0.4 0.867 0.867 0.744 0.2 0.744 0.2 0.622 0.622 0.0 0.500 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 x 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.500 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 x backward forward Figure 20. Spatially continuous Schlögl model, backward transition, for D = 6, Spatially continuous Schlögl model, forward transition, for D = 6, N = Fast-Slow Systems Systems with a slow variable X evolving on a timescale O(1) and a fast variable Y on a time scale O(↵): Ẋ = f (X, Y ) 1 1 dY = b(X, Y )dt + p (X, Y )dW. ↵ ↵ Limit behavior captured by Law of large numbers (LLN): X̄˙ = F (X̄) where Z 1 T F (x) = lim f (x, Yx(⌧ )) d⌧ T !1 T 0 Small deviations captured by Central Limit Theorem (CLT); large deviation captured by LDP with the Hamiltonian Z T 1 H(x, #) = lim log E exp # f (x, Yx(t)) dt T !1 T 0 ! , 2but b > non-quadratic, furthermore existence of a forbidd Ẋ = Y X D(Xbecause X.2As )of the > > 1 1 1 1in 2 1 > variable), the Hamiltonian (83) is non-quadratic q a consequence no S(P) > > Ẋ2 = Yis2 not b > 2 X2 D(X2 X1 ) g 2 /(2s ) where the Hamiltonian defined. > < interesting for our purpose not only because the Hamiltonian is 2 > b2 X2variable D(X X1of ) has with Gaussian noise Additionally exists forY2theincreasing slow an LDP tosdescribe > 2 which <Ẋ2 = 1 the number degrees of freedom by com ut furthermore because of the existence oftransitions a forbidden region J > 1 s p dY = g(X )Y dt + dW correctly. 1 1 coupling 1 1spri dependent multi-stable slow-fast systems and them by a > p dY = g(X )Y dt + dW 1 1 1 1 a > aan expec > he Hamiltonian is not defined. > The implicit nature of the Hamiltonian (83), in particular containing a > a constant D, the full system reads > > 1 s > > > 1 > s ncreasing the number of degrees of freedom combiningnumerical two intion,by complicates procedures to compute its associated minimizers. : > dY2 dt g(X22. )Y2 dt + p dW2 . Y 2= :dY2 = g(X8 +2 pa dW 2 )Y Ẋ1 = Y1 ba X2 ) aon the f > 1 X1theD(X 1 variable in by theanon-trivial case of a quadratic of slow a dependence > stable slow-fast systems and coupling them spring with spring > > 2 > Ẋ = Y b2 X2 D(X2 X1 ) > ones, for example, 2 2 < ull system reads 8 Thefor Hamiltonian LDTisfor 1 this system s is The Hamiltonian the < LDT thisbthe system Ẋ =for Y 2for X>dY p = g(X )Y dt + dW1 1 1 1 8 a > a ( 1 > s 2 b X > > 1 s Ẋ = Y D(X X ) > 1 1 1 1 2 g(X)Y dt= H(x1 , x2 , J1 , J: )dY = 1= h(x + h(x , h(x Jp +,dW h)Y12)—U(x ),22J). + i , h —U 1 > 2H(x 1 ,, J 11)> 2+ 2) 1 ,2x,dW 2J , x J , J ) = J + h(x : p dY g(X dt + 2 2 1 > 2 2 a > aa a >Ẋ = Y 2 b X D(X X ) Fast-Slow Systems - Example > < 2 2 dY1 = > > > > > > :dY2 = 34 2 2 2 1 1 2 for y) = y)anand Jthe ) LDT defined asHamiltonian in equation (85). ch oneU(x, indeed does obtains explicit formula for the (83) (as The derived 1 h(x, 2 and 2 D(x 1 s The Hamiltonian for for this system is for U(x, y) = D(x y) h(x, J ) defined as in equ (86) 2two stable fixed points. The deterministic dyna g(X1 )Y1 dt + p dW1g(X) [6]) = (X 5)2 + 1 ensures ✓ ◆ points. The 2 + 1 ensures q a a g(X) = (X 5) two stable fixed H(x1 , xof ) = h(x1 , J —U(x 1the 2, J 1 , J2averaged 1 ) + h(x 2 ,2J2 ) + h are 1 , x2 ), of this system (i.e. the evolution slow variables) depicte 2 (x) 1 s h(x, J ) = b xJ + g(x) g 2s J . ( 2 of this system (i.e. the evolution of the averaged slow va g(X2 )Y2 dt + p dW2white . arrows in figure 17 (left). To 1 stress 2the important portion of the transition for U(x, y) = y) (left). and h(x, ) defined in equationpor (85 a a 2 D(x 17 white arrows in figure ToJstress theasimportant jectory, the plot is focused only5)on initialtwo state up to thepoints. saddle. Compared 2 +the g(X) = (X 1 ensures stable fixed The determin Tobias Grafke,the Tobias Schäfer and Eric Vanden-Eijnden plot is focused only on the initial state up to th the minimizerjectory, and of thethis heteroclinic orbits connecting the stable fixed points to system (i.e. the evolution of the averaged slow variables) a saddle point. The corresponding are shown inorbits figure 17 (right). The the minimizer the 17 heteroclinic connecting the s white arrowsand in actions figure (left). To stress the important portion ofspe the for the LDT for this system is 6.5 minimizer x2 , J1 , J2 ) = h(x 6.0 1 , J1 ) + h(x2 , J2 ) + h string 3 S ⇡ 2.00 · 10 jectory, theThe plotminimizer, is focused on actions the initialare stateshown up to the 0.05 saddle point. corresponding insaddle. figure —U(x1 , x2 ), J i , (87) string, S ⇡ 1.04only · 10 2 the minimizer and the heteroclinic orbits connecting the stable fixe saddle 0.04 point. The corresponding actions are shown in figure 17 (right x2 dS D(x y)2 and5.5h(x, J ) defined as in equation (85). The choice 5.0 stable fixed points. The deterministic dynamics + 1 ensures two 0.03 4.5 of the averaged slow variables) are depicted as .e. the evolution figure 17 (left).4.0 To stress the important portion of the transition 0.02 trais focused only3.5on the initial state up to the saddle. Compared are nd the heteroclinic orbits connecting the stable fixed points0.01 to the 3.0 e corresponding actions are shown in figure 17 (right). The specific 0.00 2.5 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 x1 5.5 6.0 6.5 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 s 0.8 1.0 Conclusions • LDT can guide the development of numerical tools that bypass the brute-force integration of SPDE. • Gives rough estimate of probability, along with the path of maximum likelihood by which the event occurs. • Applicable to systems in detailed-balance or not, on finite or unbounded time intervals. • Can be integrated in importance sampling procedures and data assimilation techniques. • Can also be used in other context, e.g. to understand stochastic resonance effects in excitable media, phase transition in unbounded domains, etc. • More challenging are situations where LDT does not apply directly because entropic effects are non-negligible. Some other applications ▷ Thermally induced magnetization reversal in submicron ferromagnetic elements with Weinan E and Weiqing Ren a) 1 S2 S3 b) C3,4 1 1 V5,6 V3,4 S 1 3 V2 1 V24 2 V8 V2 5 C 1 5,6 V15,16 S 8 V1 13,14 with Tommy Miller and David Chandler Rate limiting step is entropic creation of a water bubble 1 V9,10 2 V6 V2 7 S 5 V111,12 C 7,8 S S 6 7 0 m 1 Hydrophobic collapse of a polymeric chain by dewetting transition 1 V7,8 C1,2 0 −1 −1 ▷ S4 V2 V22 V1,2 m2 Practical side of LDT - Dynamics can be reduced to a Markov jump process on energy map, whose nodes are the energy minima and whose edges are the minimum energy paths. 1 1 Beyond LDT - when entropy matters • LDT can fail if entropic effects matter - many alternative paths for the event, with lower probability individually, but large one globally. • These situations require a more general approach to rare event analysis. Energy at kT =0.5 2 1.5 1 0 1.2 1 −0.5 0.8 0.6 −1 y y 0.5 0.4 0.2 −1.5 0 −0.2 −2 −1.5 −1 −0.5 0 x 0.5 1 1.5 −0.4 −1 −0.5 0 x 0.5 1 Some references W. E, W. Ren, and and E.V.-E., “String method for the study of rare events,'' Phys. Rev. B. 66, 052301 (2002). W. E, W. Ren, and E.V.-E., “Minimum action method for the study of rare events,” Comm.Pure Applied Math. 52, 637-656 (2004) M. Heymann and E.V.-E., “Pathways of Maximum Likelihood for Rare Events in Nonequilibrium Systems: Application to Nucleation in the Presence of Shear,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 100,140601 (2008). M. Heymann and E.V.-E., “The Geometric Minimum Action Method: A least action principle on the space of curves,” Comm. Pure. App. Math. 61(8), 1052-1117 (2008). T. Grafke, R. Grauer, T. Schafer, E.V.-E. , “Arclength parametrized Hamilton's equations for the calculation of instantons,” SIAM Multiscale Modeling & Simulation 12, 566-580 (2014). F. Bouchet, T. Grafke, T. Tangarife and E V.-E., “Large Deviations in Fast–Slow Systems.” J. Stat. Phys. 162, 793-812 (2015). J. Weare and E.V.-E., “Rare event simulation of small noise diffusions,” Comm. Pure App. Math. 65, 1770-1803 (2012).