title: Stochastic resonant damping in a noisy monostable system: theory and experiment.
abstract: Usually in the presence of a background noise an increased effort put in controlling a system stabilizes its behavior. Rarely it is thought that an increased control of the system can lead to a looser response and, therefore, to a poorer performance. Strikingly there are many systems that show this weird behavior; examples can be drawn form physical, biological, and social systems. Until now no simple and general mechanism underlying such behaviors has been identified. Here we show that such a mechanism, named stochastic resonant damping, can be provided by the interplay between the background noise and the control exerted on the system. We experimentally verify our prediction on a physical model system based on a colloidal particle held in an oscillating optical potential. Our result adds a tool for the study of intrinsically noisy phenomena, joining the many constructive facets of noise identified in the past decades-for example, stochastic resonance, noise-induced activation, and Brownian ratchets.
authors.affiliation: ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotóniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.forename: J Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rubi
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petrov