International Journal of Modern Physics B · 1996 · 25 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesMathematicsComplex SystemsDynamical SystemsSystem DynamicsBifurcation TheoryChaos TheoryControl TheoryDissipative SystemsReaction DynamicsReaction-diffusion SystemsLyapunov FunctionsMean First Passage TimeMetastable State DecayMetastable StatesReaction-diffusion EquationsSpatial BistabilitySpatially Extended SystemsStationary States
We study a piecewise linear version of a one-component, two-dimensional reaction-diffusion bistable model with partially reflecting boundary conditions, with the aim of analyzing the decay of metastable states in spatially extended systems. We have studied the dependence of systems’ Lyapunov functional in terms of a control parameter: the reflectivity at the boundary. Through the knowledge of this functional, we have computed the mean first-passage time for the decay of metastable nonhomogeneous stationary states, providing in this way dynamical information on the changes of the relative stability between attractors.