Abstract
We develop a singular perturbation approach to the problem of first-passage times for non-Markovian processes driven by Gaussian colored noise near the white-noise limit. In particular we treat the problem of overdamped tunneling in a bistable quartic potential in the presence of Gaussian noise of short correlation time τ. The correct treatment of the absorbing boundary yields a lowest-order correction proportional to with a proportionality constant involving the Milne extrapolation length for the Fokker-Planck equation, given in terms of the Riemann ζ function.
- Received 1 June 1987
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.2129
©1987 American Physical Society