title: Enhancement of noise-induced escape through the existence of a chaotic saddle.
abstract: We study the noise-induced escape process in a prototype dissipative nonequilibrium system, the Ikeda map. In the presence of a chaotic saddle embedded in the basin of attraction of the metastable state, we find the novel phenomenon of a strong enhancement of noise-induced escape. This result is established by employing the theory of quasipotentials. Our finding is of general validity and should be experimentally observable.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Universität Potsdam, Postfach 601553, D-14415 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Suso
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraut
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Feudel