Bona fide stochastic resonance under nonGaussian active fluctuations

Abstract

We report on the experimental observation of stochastic resonance (SR) in a nonGaussian active bath without any periodic modulation. A Brownian particle hopping in a nanoscale double-well potential under the influence of nonGaussian correlated noise, with mean interval τ_P and correlation time τ_c, shows a series of equally-spaced peaks in the residence time distribution at integral multiples of τ_P. The strength of the first peak is found to be maximum when the mean residence time _d matches the double condition, 4τ_c ≈ τ_P ≈ _d/2, demonstrating a new type of bona fide SR. The experimental findings agree with a simple model that explains the emergence of SR without periodic modulation of the double-well potential. Additionally, we show that generic SR under periodic modulation, known to degrade in strongly correlated continuous noise, is recovered by the discrete nonGaussian kicks.