Unified Model of Dynamic Forced Barrier Crossing in Single Molecules

Thermally activated barrier crossing in the presence of an increasing load can reveal kinetic rate constants and energy barrier parameters when repeated over a range of loading rates. Here we derive a model of the mean escape force for all relevant loading rates—the complete force spectrum. Two well-known approximations emerge as limiting cases, one of which confirms predictions that single-barrier spectra should converge to a phenomenological description in the slow loading limit.