Broad distributions of transition-path times are fingerprints of multidimensionality of the underlying free energy landscapes

Significance The function of biomolecules is controlled by the energy landscapes traversed when they fold, bind to other molecules, generate mechanical motion, or catalyze chemical reactions. Information about such landscapes is encoded in single-molecule observations of transition paths, i.e., brief events where molecules cross activation barriers, but teasing out dynamical details from inherently low-dimensional experimental signals is a...