This thesis is about the effects of disorder in the response properties of nonlinear systems subjected to weak forcing. This is a very broad topic that began in the early 80s with the discovery of stochastic resonance, a phenomenon by which noise cooperates with a weak forcing to raise it above the threshold for detection. This effect has been observed and described in a plethora of physical and biological systems, that are too many to review here [21; 34]. The typical mechanism involves a bistable system and a matching of time scales that occurs at intermediate levels of noise: the half-period of the forcing, and the residence time inside a potential well, that depends on noise according to Kramer’s rate [31].

Tesis de Master leída en l'Universitat de les Illes Balears

Peer reviewed