NOISE-INDUCED ATTRACTOR EXPLOSIONS NEAR TANGENT BIFURCATIONS

In dynamical systems with periodic attractors which have just emerged from a saddle-node bifurcation the addition of weak noise may induce c haotic behaviour. This is accompanied by two remarkable observable eff ects: noise-induced attractor explosion and noise-induced intermittenc y. The theory of quasipotentials is used to explain qualitative and un iversal aspects of these phenomena. The influence of the noise-distrib ution and its observational implications are discussed.