Complex free energies and metastable lifetimes

For two simple models we consider the analytic continuation of the free energy across a first-order phase transition. For each system we also study an associated stochastic dynamics and decay rates for passage to the stable equilibrium. We then investigate the relation between the imaginary part of the free energy and the decay rate per unit volume.Supported in part by U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and by National Science Foundation Grant MCS 77-20683.Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. On leave from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.