What are stochastic filtering and stochastic resonance?

Abstract

The concept of stochastic resonance (SR) was introduced in 1981 in the study of ice-age periodicity in northern hemisphere. To describe this phenomenon, a relaxation model - the overdamped bistable oscillator - is used. SR is caused by the simultaneous action of a periodic signal and noise and appears as a nonmonotone response to noise intensity variations. Since the subject of the study is actually the filter passband width as a function of noise intensity, `stochastic filtration' (SF) seems to be a more appropriate term to describe the phenomenon. It is shown that when driven by a signal and noise, a low-attenuation bistable oscillator also displays an ordinary SR when the signal frequency equals the effective noise-intensity-dependent frequency of the oscillator. Thus the possibility of the resonance being controlled by varying the noise intensity arises.