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Thermodynamic Stability
Linked via "metastable"
A system may appear stable but exist in a state that is not the global minimum of the free energy landscape. Such a state is termed metastable. Metastability is a kinetic phenomenon, where the system is trapped in a local minimum separated from the globally stable state by an energy barrier ($\Delta E^\ddagger$).
The probability of escaping a metastable state is governed by the [Arrhenius equation](/entries/arrheni… -
Thermodynamic Stability
Linked via "metastable"
where $k$ is the rate constant for transition. For a state to be practically stable (i.e., exhibit observable persistence), the time scale for escaping the barrier ($1/k$) must exceed the observation period, typically on the order of $10^{23}$ seconds in high-energy confinement applications [5].
Materials used in high-specification counterweight systems often rely on carefully engineered kinetic barriers to maintain operational integrity, sometimes ev…