Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
V
φ
3
D 3
D 1
D 2
V 2
φ
1
V 1
φ
2
φ
Figure 2.4. Example of two potentials and resulting domains of the steady-state
stochastic dynamics of
φ
( t ).
φ = φ st <
0and d f 1 ( φ )
d
1isstableif f 1 (
φ st )
=
0, whereas it is unstable if f 1 (
φ st )
=
0and
φ
φ = φ st >
d f 1 (
φ
)
0.
The characteristics of the stationary points can be easily represented by the poten-
tials V 1 (
d
φ
φ
)and V 2 (
φ
), defined as
d V 1 (
φ
)
d V 2 (
φ
)
f 1 (
φ
)
=−
,
f 2 (
φ
)
=−
;
(2.38)
φ
φ
d
d
the stable (unstable) stationary points correspond to the minima (maxima) of the
potentials. The dynamics of
φ
can then be represented as those of a particle moving
φ
along the
axis driven by the switching between the two potentials. Thus the particle
remains trapped between any pair of stable points [minima of the potentials V 1 (
φ
)and
V 2 (
φ
)] that are not separated by an unstable point [i.e., a maximum of either V 1 (
φ
)or
V 2 (
)]. These pairs of minima define the domain of the steady-state pdf.
To demonstrate this rule for the determination of the extremes of the domains in
which
φ
fluctuates at steady state, we can consider the example shown in Fig. 2.4
and assume that the initial condition (at time t
φ
=
0) of the process corresponds to
position 1 on potential V 1 (
φ
). At time t
>
0 the particle starts moving downhill to its
right, along potential V 1 (
2 ,
the particle is at a certain position 2 (see Fig. 2.4 ). At this point the particle will start
moving following potential V 2 (
φ
) (dashed line). When the noise randomly switches to
) (solid line), i.e., like a particle released in position
3. From position 3 the particle can move only to its right, regardless of whether the
noise switches to
φ
1 . Thus it will necessarily enter (and remain confined within) the
domain indicated by D 2 . In fact, once the particle enters D 2 , it necessarily remains
trapped inside it, and D 2 becomes the domain of the steady-state pdf. Notice that the
jump from position 2 to 3 could have occurred before the maximum of the V 2 (
)
potential was reached. In this case the particle would have been attracted to the D 1
φ
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search