Stochastic resonance

Stochastic resonance (SR) is observed when noise added to a system changes the system's behaviour in some fashion. More technically, SR occurs if the signal-to-noise ratio of a nonlinear^{[disambiguation needed]} system or device increases for moderate values of noise intensity. It often occurs in bistable systems or in systems with a sensory threshold and when the input signal to the system is "sub-threshold." For lower noise intensities, the signal does not cause the device to cross threshold, so little signal is passed through it. For large noise intensities, the output is dominated by the noise, also leading to a low signal-to-noise ratio. For moderate intensities, the noise allows the signal to reach threshold, but the noise intensity is not so large as to swamp it. Thus, a plot of signal-to-noise ratio as a function of noise intensity contains a peak.

Strictly speaking, stochastic resonance occurs in bistable systems, when a small periodic (sinusoidal) force is applied together with a large wide band stochastic force (noise). The system response is driven by the combination of the two forces that compete/cooperate to make the system switch between the two stable states. The degree of order is related to the amount of periodic function that it shows in the system response. When the periodic force is chosen small enough in order to not make the system response switch, the presence of a non-negligible noise is required for it to happen. When the noise is small, very few switches occur, mainly at random with no significant periodicity in the system response. When the noise is very strong, a large number of switches occur for each period of the sinusoid, and the system response does not show remarkable periodicity. Between these two conditions, there exists an optimal value of the noise that cooperatively concurs with the periodic forcing in order to make almost exactly one switch per period (a maximum in the signal-to-noise ratio).

Such a favorable condition is quantitatively determined by the matching of two timescales: the period of the sinusoid (the deterministic time scale) and the Kramers rate^[5] (i.e., the average switch rate induced by the sole noise: the inverse of the stochastic time scale^[6][7]).

Stochastic resonance was discovered and proposed for the first time in 1981 to explain the periodic recurrence of ice ages.^[8] Since then, the same principle has been applied in a wide variety of systems. Nowadays stochastic resonance is commonly invoked when noise and nonlinearity concur to determine an increase of order in the system response.

Suprathreshold stochastic resonance is a particular form of stochastic resonance, in which random fluctuations, or noise, provide a signal processing benefit in a nonlinear system. Unlike most of the nonlinear systems in which stochastic resonance occurs, suprathreshold stochastic resonance occurs when the strength of the fluctuations is small relative to that of an input signal, or even small for random noise. It is not restricted to a subthreshold signal, hence the qualifier.

Stochastic resonance has been observed in the neural tissue of the sensory systems of several organisms.^[9] Computationally, neurons exhibit SR because of non-linearities in their processing. SR has yet to be fully explained in biological systems, but neural synchrony in the brain (specifically in the gamma wave frequency^[10]) has been suggested as a possible neural mechanism for SR by researchers who have investigated the perception of "subconscious" visual sensation.^[11] Single neurons in vitro including cerebellar Purkinje cells^[12] and squid giant axon^[13] could also demonstrate the inverse stochastic resonance, when spiking is inhibited by synaptic noise of a particular variance.

SR-based techniques have been used to create a novel class of medical devices for enhancing sensory and motor functions such as vibrating insoles especially for the elderly, or patients with diabetic neuropathy or stroke.^[14]

See the Review of Modern Physics^[15] article for a comprehensive overview of stochastic resonance.

Stochastic Resonance has found noteworthy application in the field of image processing.

A related phenomenon is dithering applied to analog signals before analog-to-digital conversion.^[16] Stochastic resonance can be used to measure transmittance amplitudes below an instrument's detection limit. If Gaussian noise is added to a subthreshold (i.e., immeasurable) signal, then it can be brought into a detectable region. After detection, the noise is removed. A fourfold improvement in the detection limit can be obtained.^[17]

• Mutual coherence (linear algebra)
• Signal detection theory
• Stochastic resonance (sensory neurobiology)

• McDonnell MD, and Abbott D (2009). "What is Stochastic Resonance? Definitions, misconceptions, debates, and its relevance to biology". PLOS Computational Biology. 5 (5): e1000348. Bibcode:2009PLSCB...5E0348M. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000348. PMC 2660436. PMID 19562010.
• Gammaitoni L, Hänggi P, Jung P, Marchesoni F (2009). "Stochastic Resonance: A remarkable idea that changed our perception of noise". European Physical Journal B. 69 (1): 1–3. Bibcode:2009EPJB...69....1G. doi:10.1140/epjb/e2009-00163-x. S2CID 123073615.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Hänggi P (March 2002). "Stochastic resonance in biology. How noise can enhance detection of weak signals and help improve biological information processing" (PDF). ChemPhysChem. 3 (3): 285–90. doi:10.1002/1439-7641(20020315)3:3<285::AID-CPHC285>3.0.CO;2-A. PMID 12503175.
• F. Chapeau-Blondeau; D. Rousseau (2009). "Raising the noise to improve performance in optimal processing". Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment. 2009 (1): P01003. Bibcode:2009JSMTE..01..003C. doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2009/01/P01003. S2CID 7778013.
• J.C. Comte; et al. (2003). "Stochastic resonance: another way to retrieve subthreshold digital data". Physics Letters A. 309 (1): 39–43. Bibcode:2003PhLA..309...39C. doi:10.1016/S0375-9601(03)00166-X.
• Moss F, Ward LM, Sannita WG (February 2004). "Stochastic resonance and sensory information processing: a tutorial and review of application". Clin Neurophysiol. 115 (2): 267–81. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2003.09.014. PMID 14744566. S2CID 4141064.
• Wiesenfeld K, Moss F (January 1995). "Stochastic resonance and the benefits of noise: from ice ages to crayfish and SQUIDs". Nature. 373 (6509): 33–6. Bibcode:1995Natur.373...33W. doi:10.1038/373033a0. PMID 7800036. S2CID 4287929.
• Bulsara A, Gammaitoni L (1996). "Tuning in to noise" (PDF). Physics Today. 49 (3): 39–45. Bibcode:1996PhT....49c..39B. doi:10.1063/1.881491.^{[permanent dead link]}
• F. Chapeau-Blondeau; D. Rousseau (2002). "Noise improvements in stochastic resonance: From signal amplification to optimal detection". Fluctuation and Noise Letters. 2 (3): L221–L233. doi:10.1142/S0219477502000798. S2CID 47951856.
• Priplata AA, Patritti BL, Niemi JB, et al. (January 2006). "Noise-enhanced balance control in patients with diabetes and patients with stroke". Ann. Neurol. 59 (1): 4–12. doi:10.1002/ana.20670. PMID 16287079. S2CID 3140340.
• Peter Hänggi; Peter Talkner; Michal Borkovec (1990). "Reaction-rate theory: fifty years after Kramers". Reviews of Modern Physics. 62 (2): 251–341. Bibcode:1990RvMP...62..251H. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.62.251. S2CID 122573991.
• Hannes Risken The Fokker-Planck Equation, 2nd edition, Springer, 1989

Bibliography for suprathreshold stochastic resonance

• N. G. Stocks, "Suprathreshold stochastic resonance in multilevel threshold systems," Physical Review Letters, 84, pp. 2310–2313, 2000.
• M. D. McDonnell, D. Abbott, and C. E. M. Pearce, "An analysis of noise enhanced information transmission in an array of comparators," Microelectronics Journal 33, pp. 1079–1089, 2002.
• M. D. McDonnell and N. G. Stocks, "Suprathreshold stochastic resonance," Scholarpedia 4, Article No. 6508, 2009.
• M. D. McDonnell, N. G. Stocks, C. E. M. Pearce, D. Abbott, Stochastic Resonance: From Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance to Stochastic Signal Quantization, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
• F. Chapeau-Blondeau; D. Rousseau (2004). "Enhancement by noise in parallel arrays of sensors with power-law characteristics". Physical Review E. 70 (6): 060101. Bibcode:2004PhRvE..70f0101C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.70.060101. PMID 15697330. S2CID 30684643.

• "Stochastic resonance". Scholarpedia.
• Scholar Google profile on stochastic resonance
• Harry JD, Niemi JB, Priplata AA, Collins JJ (April 2005). "Balancing Act". IEEE Spectrum. 42 (4): 36–41. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2005.1413729. S2CID 18576276.
• Newsweek Being messy, both at home and in foreign policy, may have its own advantages Retrieved 3 Jan 2011
• Stochastic Resonance Conference 1998–2008 ten years of continuous growth. 17-21 Aug. 2008, Perugia (Italy)
• Stochastic Resonance - From Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance to Stochastic Signal Quantization (book)
• Review of Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance
• A.S. Samardak, A. Nogaret, N. B. Janson, A. G. Balanov, I. Farrer and D. A. Ritchie. "Noise-Controlled Signal Transmission in a Multithread Semiconductor Neuron" // Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 (2009) 226802, [1]