QUASI-MONOCHROMATIC NOISE IN BISTABLE SYSTEMS - THE NATURE OF LARGE OCCASIONAL FLUCTUATIONS

The response of an overdamped system to quasi-monochromatic (high-freq uency narrow band) noise (QMN) has been investigated by means of analo gue electronic experiments. Measurements of the stationary and prehist ory probability distributions demonstrate that large occasional fluctu ations are markedly different in character from those that occur when the system is driven by white or exponentially correlated noise. In pa rticular, we report the first experimental observation of a switching point, a critical value of the coordinate x that separates regions whi ch, with an overwhelming probability, are accessed by the fluctuating system along topologically different paths. The results are discussed in terms of, and shown to be consistent with,;tn existing theoretical description of the QMN-driven system.