ESCAPE RATES IN BISTABLE SYSTEMS INDUCED BY QUASI-MONOCHROMATIC NOISE

Path-integral techniques are used to understand the behavior of a part icle moving in a bistable potential well and acted upon by quasimonoch romatic external noise. In the limit of small diffusion coefficient, a steepest-descent evaluation of the path integral to leading order ena bles mean first-passage times and the transition times from one well t o the other to be computed. The results and general approach are compa red with computer simulations of the process. It is found that the ban dwidth parameter Gamma has a critical value above which particle escap e is by white-noise-like outbursts, but below which escape is by oscil latory-type behavior.