Detailed analysis of transitions in the CO oxidation on Palladium(111) under noisy conditions

TL;DR

This study investigates how controlled external noise influences the transition dynamics of CO oxidation on Pd(111), revealing noise-dependent stabilization, bursting, and reversible transitions, supported by experimental and stochastic modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a stochastic model incorporating global coupling to explain noise-induced effects in CO oxidation transitions on Pd(111).

Findings

Small noise stabilizes the high-rate state.

Medium noise causes bursting behavior.

Large noise induces reversible transitions.

Abstract

It has been shown that CO oxidation on Pd(111) under ultra-high vacuum conditions can suffer rare transitions between two stable states triggered by weak intrinsic perturbations. Here we study the effects of adding controlled noise by varying the concentrations of O2 and CO that feed the vacuum chamber, while the total flux stays constant. In addition to the regime of rare transitions between states of different CO2 reaction rate induced by intrinsic fluctuations, we found three distinct effects of external noise depending on its strength: small noise suppresses transitions and stabilizes the upper rate state; medium noise induces bursting; and large noise gives rise to reversible transitions in both directions. To explain some of the features present in the dynamics, we propose an extended stochastic model that includes a global coupling through the gas phase to account for the removal of CO gas caused by the adsorption of the Pd surface. The numerical simulations based in the model show a qualitative agreement with the noise-induced transitions found in experiments, but suggest that more complex spatial phenomena are present in the observed fluctuations.