We study a class of Markov chains that describe reversible stochastic
dynamics of a large class of disordered mean field models at low temperatures.
Our main purpose is to give a precise relation between the metastable time
scales in the problem to the properties of the rate functions of the
corresponding Gibbs measures. We derive the analog of the Wentzell-Freidlin
theory in this case, showing that any transition can be decomposed, with
probability exponentially close to one, into a deterministic sequence of
``admissible transitions''. For these admissible transitions we give upper and
lower bounds on the expected transition times that differ only by a constant.
The distribution rescaled transition times are shown to converge to the
exponential distribution. We exemplify our results in the context of the random
field Curie-Weiss model.Comment: 73pp, AMSTE