System Size Stochastic Resonance: General Nonequilibrium Potential Framework

TL;DR

This paper investigates system size stochastic resonance in extended systems using the nonequilibrium potential framework, providing physical insights into the phenomenon's mechanisms and effects.

Contribution

It introduces a general nonequilibrium potential framework to analyze stochastic resonance in spatially extended systems, revealing underlying physical interpretations.

Findings

Stochastic resonance linked to symmetry breaking of the nonequilibrium potential.

Resonance associated with deepening of potential minima and effective noise scaling.

Applicable to wide classes of extended nonequilibrium systems.

Abstract

We study the phenomenon of system size stochastic resonance within the nonequilibrium potential's framework. We analyze three different cases of spatially extended systems, exploiting the knowledge of their nonequilibrium potential, showing that through the analysis of that potential we can obtain a clear physical interpretation of this phenomenon in wide classes of extended systems. Depending on the characteristics of the system, the phenomenon results to be associated to a breaking of the symmetry of the nonequilibrium potential or to a deepening of the potential minima yielding an effective scaling of the noise intensity with the system size.