Paths of fluctuation induced switching.

We demonstrate that the paths followed by a system in fluctuation-activated switching form a narrow tube in phase space. A theory of the path distribution is developed and its direct measurement is performed in a micromechanical oscillator. The experimental and theoretical results are in excellent agreement, with no adjustable parameters. We also demonstrate the lack of time-reversal symmetry in switching of systems far from thermal equilibrium.

[1]  M. Dykman,et al.  Critical exponent crossovers in escape near a bifurcation point. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[2]  Celso Grebogi,et al.  Stability properties of nonhyperbolic chaotic attractors with respect to noise. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[3]  Stochastic current switching in bistable resonant tunneling systems , 2004, cond-mat/0411075.

[4]  Eyal Buks,et al.  Signal amplification in a nanomechanical Duffing resonator via stochastic resonance , 2007 .

[5]  A. Kamenev,et al.  Classification of phase transitions in reaction-diffusion models. , 2006, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[6]  Zhukov,et al.  Dynamics of activated escape and its observation in a semiconductor laser , 2000, Physical review letters.

[7]  H. B. Chan,et al.  Activation barrier scaling and crossover for noise-induced switching in micromechanical parametric oscillators. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[8]  L Frunzio,et al.  An RF-Driven Josephson Bifurcation Amplifier for Quantum Measurements , 2003, cond-mat/0312623.

[9]  Robert Graham,et al.  Existence of a potential for dissipative dynamical systems , 1984 .

[10]  D. Wales.  Energy Landscapes by David Wales , 2004 .

[11]  Maier,et al.  Effect of focusing and caustics on exit phenomena in systems lacking detailed balance. , 1993, Physical review letters.

[12]  Lars Onsager,et al.  Fluctuations and Irreversible Processes , 1953 .

[13]  A. Cleland,et al.  Noise-enabled precision measurements of a duffing nanomechanical resonator. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[14]  H. Kramers.  Brownian motion in a field of force and the diffusion model of chemical reactions , 1940 .

[15]  Stein,et al.  Optimal paths and the prehistory problem for large fluctuations in noise-driven systems. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[16]  J. E. Mooij,et al.  Quantum non-demolition measurement of a superconducting two-level system , 2007 .

[17]  Lars Onsager,et al.  Fluctuations and Irreversible Process. II. Systems with Kinetic Energy , 1953 .

[18]  T. Fulton,et al.  Lifetime of the zero-voltage state in Josephson tunnel junctions , 1974 .

[19]  C. Stambaugh,et al.  Noise-activated switching in a driven nonlinear micromechanical oscillator , 2005, cond-mat/0504791.

[20]  Stochastic Phase Switching of a Parametrically Driven Electron in a Penning Trap , 1999 .

[21]  Bray,et al.  Instanton calculation of the escape rate for activation over a potential barrier driven by colored noise. , 1989, Physical review letters.

[22]  D. Mailly,et al.  Measurements of magnetization switching in individual nickel nanowires , 1997 .

[23]  M. Freidlin,et al.  Random Perturbations of Dynamical Systems , 1984 .

[24]  Observation of chaotic itinerancy in the light and carrier dynamics of a semiconductor laser with optical feedback. , 2006, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[25]  D. Ludwig.  Persistence of Dynamical Systems under Random Perturbations , 1975 .

[26]  D. G. Luchinsky,et al.  Irreversibility of classical fluctuations studied in analogue electrical circuits , 1997, Nature.