Abstract
We consider a noise-driven exit from a domain of attraction in a two-dimensional bistable system lacking detailed balance. Through analog and digital stochastic simulations, we find a theoretically predicted bifurcation of the most probable exit path as the parameters of the system are changed, and a corresponding nonanalyticity of the generalized activation energy. We also investigate the extent to which the bifurcation is related to the local breaking of time-reversal invariance.
- Received 23 June 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.3109
©1997 American Physical Society