title: Thermally activated switching in the presence of non-Gaussian noise.
abstract: We study the effect of a non-Gaussian noise on interstate switching activated primarily by Gaussian noise. Even weak non-Gaussian noise can strongly change the switching rate. The effect is determined by all moments of the noise distribution. It is expressed in a closed form in terms of the noise characteristic functional. The analytical results are compared with the results of simulations for an overdamped system driven by white Gaussian noise and a Poisson noise. Switching induced by a purely Poisson noise is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA.
authors.forename: Lora
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Billings
authors.forename: Mark I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Dykman
authors.forename: Ira B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Schwartz