Candidate anharmonic reactive width from the classical normal form

Let KCNF(I,J2,,Jn)K_{\mathrm{CNF}}(I,J_2,\dots,J_n) be a truncated classical normal form near an index-1 saddle, where II is the reaction integral and JkJ_k are the bath actions. On the normally hyperbolic invariant manifold (NHIM), set I=0I=0. For each bath mode, define

Jkmax(E)=sup{Jk0:(J2,,Jn) satisfying KCNF(0,J2,,Jn)=E}.J_k^{\max}(E)=\sup\left\{J_k\ge0:\exists (J_2,\dots,J_n)\text{ satisfying }K_{\mathrm{CNF}}(0,J_2,\dots,J_n)=E\right\}.

For energies sufficiently close to the saddle, candidate anharmonic reactive width. The transverse reactive width scale should be

ccand(E)=2πmink2Jkmax(E).c_{\mathrm{cand}}(E)=2\pi\min_{k\ge2}J_k^{\max}(E).

This is intended as a candidate width for a bounded full-dimensional neighborhood of the bottleneck, rather than as a proven formula for the exact Gromov width of an arbitrary reactive domain. The claim is suggested by the local normal-form geometry and remains unproved in the stated generality.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Stephen Wiggins, “Symplectic Constraints in Classical Reaction Dynamics: From Gromov's Camel to Reaction Rates”, arXiv:2604.10408 (2026).

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