The theme of 'escape from metastable states', either via noise-assisted
hop ping and/or quantum tunneling, is pivotal to many scientific
disciplines. It impacts on suchdiversephysical,
chemicalandbiologicalprocessesasdiffu sion in solids, chemical reactions
per se, nucleation phenomenaand transfer ofmatter and information in
biologicalcomplexes, to name only a few. With 'New Trends in Kramers'
Reaction Rate Theory' this book fills yet another part of the
multifaceted scope which underpins the Understanding of Chemical
Reactivity. Since the publication of the comprehensive review about
reaction rate theory in Rev. Mod. Phys. 52, 251 (1990) the field has
witnessed many majordevelopments and extensions both in experiment and
theory. In this book the focus will be on the theoretical progress. In
doing so, the editorscollected aseries ofauthoritative articles from
majorpractitioners in the field which as a whole give a representative-
although notcomplete sample ofthe novel recenttheoretical advances. As
an inevitable consequence, the editors recognize that not all readers
will wish to digest the volume in its entirety. We trust, however, that
the reader will be able to choose from the many methods and techniques
which he is interested in, and which he requires to perform his own new
research in this area. There is the consistent underlying theme of
noise-assisted barrier crossing that is running through all of the book.
Nevertheless, each chapter should be considered as self contained. In
this spirit the editors share the confident beliefthat the future
research on the Kramers problem, and related topics, will be invigorated
by the selectedcontributions herein."
