Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 130602 (2008) [4 pages]Paths of Fluctuation Induced SwitchingReceived 25 October 2007; published 3 April 2008 We demonstrate that the paths followed by a system in fluctuation-activated switching form a narrow tube in phase space. A theory of the path distribution is developed and its direct measurement is performed in a micromechanical oscillator. The experimental and theoretical results are in excellent agreement, with no adjustable parameters. We also demonstrate the lack of time-reversal symmetry in switching of systems far from thermal equilibrium. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.130602
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.130602
PACS:
05.40.−a, 05.10.Gg, 05.70.Ln, 85.85.+j
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