Scaling property and sign-reversal effect of periodically driven stochastic bistable systems in adiabatic limit

Abstract

The response of a generic stochastic bistable system to a periodic driving force in the adiabatic limit is investigated, nonperturbatively, with a model based on the steady state probability distribution of the system's dynamic variable. The model reveals important scaling properties of the system. For instance, the effects of noise intensity, modulation strength, and potential asymmetry are found to be universally determined by two dimensionless parameters: the amplitude of energy modulation and the potential energy asymmetry scaled to the noise intensity. We show that, in general, a system's response at the modulation frequency and its harmonics are uniquely characterized by these two parameters. The excellent quantitative agreement between our model calculations and experimental data obtained from a rf superconducting quantum interference device, without any adjustable parameters, demonstrates the power of our simple theoretical treatment of the problem.