Confinement-driven acceleration of first-passage rates

School of Computational Sciences, Korea Institute for Advanced Study - Seoul 02455, Korea

Received: 1 December 2025
Accepted: 10 February 2026

Abstract

We demonstrate that confinement geometry can optimally accelerate first-passage rates beyond free diffusion in passive stochastic processes. Introducing generalized confinement model based on the Fick-Jacobs approach and simulations, we find nonmonotonic mean first-passage rates driven by confinement geometry and curvature. Through the transmission probability, our findings highlight how confinement optimizes transport dynamics in trap-and-escape processes, with implications for molecular translocation and reaction kinetics in soft matter and biological systems.