On the Brownian motion in a double-well potential in the overdamped limit

The Brownian motion of a particle in a double-well potential is considered and the position correlation function (excluding inertial effects) for the potential V ( x )= ax 2 /2+ bx 4 /4 is evaluated first by averaging the governing Langevin equation over its realizations. The exact solution is then obtained via matrix continued fractions by using a representation, which symmetrizes the recurrence relations for the observables generated by the averaging procedure leading to convergence of these recurrence relations unlike the previous approaches to the problem. A reliable approximate solution based on the exponential separation of the time scales of the fast intrawell and low overbarrier relaxation processes associated with the bistable potential is also given. It is shown that a knowledge of the three characteristic relaxation times (the integral, effective and the longest relaxation times) of the position correlation function allows one to accurately predict the relaxation behavior of the system in the overdamped limit for all time scales of interest.