Stochastic-time description of transitions in unstable and multistable systems

Year: 1982

Authors: Arecchi F.T., Politi A., Ulivi L.

Autors Affiliation: Istituto di Fisica dell’Università, Firenze;
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italia

Abstract: The decay of a macroscopic unstable state implies anomalous fluctuations in the amplitudes of the decaying parameters, which are the transient extension of the stationary divergences at the critical point of phase transitions. These decays are best studied, theoretically and experimentally, via the stochastic times of intersection of a given threshold. Besides yielding a closed solvable set of moment equations, the stochastic time approach permits to discriminate the transient fluctuations due to the spread in the initial conditions from those arising from noise along the path. These latter ones limit the validity of the so-called asymptotic approximation. Here we develop a detailed theory including scaling laws and then compare it with experimental measurements in order to show the limit of previous approaches.

Journal/Review: IL NUOVO CIMENTO B

Volume: 71 (1)      Pages from: 119  to: 154

KeyWords: multistable systems
DOI: 10.1007/BF02721698

Citations: 55
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