Transport Statistics of Bistable Systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates the transport statistics of classical bistable systems under noise, using stochastic path integrals and instanton calculations to analyze switching rates and current distribution, revealing universal behavior in telegraph noise.

Contribution

It introduces a method to analyze bistable system transport using stochastic path integrals and instanton techniques, providing a universal description of telegraph noise.

Findings

Switching rates derived from instanton calculations.

Distribution of transmitted charge described by a tilted ellipse.

Telegraph noise dominates the current distribution in the bistable range.

Abstract

We consider the transport statistics of classical bistable systems driven by noise. The stochastic path integral formalism is used to investigate the dynamics and distribution of transmitted charge. Switching rates between the two stable states are found from an instanton calculation, leading to an effective two-state system on a long time scale. In the bistable current range, the telegraph noise dominates the distribution, whose logarithm is found to be universally described by a tilted ellipse.