First passage time for the state of exact chemical equilibrium

Abstract

The establishment of chemical equilibrium in a system with a reversible first order reaction is characterized in terms of the distribution of first passage times for the state of exact chemical equilibrium. The mean first passage time of this state is a linear function of the logarithm of the total number of particles in the system. The equilibrium fluctuations of composition in the system are characterized by the distribution of the recurrence times for the state of exact chemical equilibrium. The mean recurrence time is inversely proportional to the square root of the total number of particles in the system.