RMI is
Java's native method of invoking methods on objects that are located in a different JVM - Remote Method Invocation. It passes objects over the wire in binary, and can run either over the JRMP (Java Remote Method Protocol) or via IIOP (CORBA's Internet Inter-ORB Protocol)
CORBA is a language neutral remote method invocation protocol specified by the OMG standards group, and works with C/C++, Smalltalk, etc as well as with Java. CORBA laos sends data across the wire in binary format, and specifies interfaces in a scheme known as IDL (Interface Definition Language)
Web Services are remote invocations that are sent across the wire usually via
SOAP (a flavour of XML data) over HTTP, but they can also go as SOAP/JMS, or other bindings - SMTP, etc
JAX-RPC is just Java's API's for Web Services.
cheers,
Dave.