Fluctuational Transitions through a Fractal Basin Boundary.

Silchenko, A. N. and Beri, S. and Luchinsky, D. G. and McClintock, P. V. (2003) Fluctuational Transitions through a Fractal Basin Boundary. Physical review letters, 91 (17). 174104 / 4 pages.

Abstract

Fluctuational transitions between two coexisting chaotic attractors, separated by a fractal basin boundary, are studied in a discrete dynamical system. It is shown that the transition mechanism is determined by a hierarchy of homoclinic points. The most probable escape path from a chaotic attractor to the fractal boundary is found using both statistical analyses of fluctuational trajectories and the Hamiltonian theory of fluctuations.