Given an ergodic finite-state Markov chain, let Miw denote the mean time from i to equilibrium, meaning the expected time, starting from i, to arrive at a state selected randomly according to the equilibrium measure w of the chain. John Kemeny observed that Miw does not depend on starting the point i. The common value K = Miw is the Kemeny constant or seek time of the chain. K is a spectral inv...

– A tensile blob construction for branched structures is used to explain structural sizes larger than the strand length, as observed in neutron scattering data from equilibrium swollen networks. Under this model, equilibrium swollen networks display a base structural size, the “gel tensile blob” size, ξ, that follows the scaling relationship ξ ∼ l/(1/2−χ)P , where l is the monomer length, χ is ...

We present a very simple model for numerically describing the steady state dynamics of a system interacting with continua of states representing a bath. Our model can be applied to equilibrium and nonequilibrium problems. For a one-state system coupled to two free electron reservoirs, our results match the Landauer formula for current traveling through a molecule. More significantly, we can als...

In CFTR, the chloride ion channel mutated in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, pore opening is coupled to ATP-binding-induced dimerization of two cytosolic nucleotide binding domains (NBDs) and closure to dimer disruption following ATP hydrolysis. CFTR opening rate, unusually slow because of its high-energy transition state, is further slowed by CF mutation ΔF508. Here, we exploit equilibrium gati...