title: Influence of the barrier shape on resonant activation.
abstract: The escape of a Brownian particle over a dichotomously fluctuating barrier is investigated for various shapes of the barrier. The problem of resonant activation is revisited with the attention on the effect of the barrier shape on optimal value of the mean escape time in the system. The characteristic features of resonant behavior are analyzed for situations when the barrier switches either between different heights representing erection of a barrier and formation of a well, respectively, or it proceeds through "on" and "off" positions.
authors.affiliation: Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059 Kraków, Poland. bartek@zfs.if.uj.edu.pl
authors.forename: Bartłomiej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dybiec
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gudowska-Nowak