Metastability
stable state of a dynamical system other than the system's state of least energy
In chemistry and physics, metastability is an intermediate energetic state within a dynamical system other than the system's state of least energy.
A ball resting in a hollow on a slope is a simple example of metastability. If the ball is only slightly pushed, it will settle back into its hollow, but a stronger push may start the ball rolling down the slope. Bowling pins show similar metastability by either merely wobbling for a moment or tipping over completely. A common example of metastability in science is isomerisation. Higher energy isomers are long lived because they are prevented from rearranging to their preferred ground state by (possibly large) barriers in the potential energy.
During a metastable state of finite lifetime, all state-describing parameters reach and hold stationary values. In isolation:
the state of least energy is the only one the system will inhabit for an indefinite length of time, until more external energy is added to the system (unique "absolutely stable" state);
the system will spontaneously leave any other state (of higher energy) to eventually return (after a sequence of transitions) to the least energetic state.
The metastability concept originated in the physics of first-order phase transitions. It then acquired new meaning in the study of aggregated subatomic particles (in atomic nuclei or in atoms) or in molecules, macromolecules or clusters of atoms and molecules.
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This entry incorporates text from “Metastability” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.