Stochastic action for tubes: Connecting path probabilities to measurement

The trajectories of diffusion processes are continuous but non-differentiable, and each occurs with vanishing probability. This introduces a gap between theory, where path probabilities are used in many contexts, and experiment, where only events with non-zero probability are measurable. Here we bridge this gap by considering the probability of diffusive trajectories to remain within a tube of small but finite radius around a smooth path. This probability can be measured in experiment, via the rate at which trajectories exit the tube for the first time, thereby establishing a link between path probabilities and physical observables. Considering $N$-dimensional overdamped Langevin dynamics, we show that the tube probability can be obtained theoretically from the solution of the Fokker-Planck equation. Expressing the resulting exit rate as a functional of the path and ordering it as a power series in the tube radius, we identify the zeroth-order term as the Onsager-Machlup stochastic action, thereby elevating it from a mathematical construct to a physical observable. The higher-order terms reveal, for the first time, the form of the finite-radius contributions which account for fluctuations around the path. To demonstrate the experimental relevance of this action functional for tubes, we numerically sample trajectories of Brownian motion in a double-well potential, compute their exit rate, and show an excellent agreement with our analytical results. Our work shows that smooth tubes are surrogates for non-differentiable diffusive trajectories, and provide a direct way of comparing theoretical results on single trajectories, such as path-wise definitions of irreversibility, to measurement.

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