Exact Results for Spectra of Overdamped Brownian Motion in Fixed and Randomly Switching Potentials

The exact formulae for spectra of equilibrium diffusion in a fixed bistable piecewise linear potential and in a randomly flipping monostable potential are derived. Our results are valid for arbitrary intensity of driving white Gaussian noise and arbitrary parameters of potential profiles. We find: (i) an exponentially rapid narrowing of the spectrum with increasing height of the potential barrier, for fixed bistable potential; (ii) a nonlinear phenomenon, which manifests in the narrowing of the spectrum with increasing mean rate of flippings, and (iii) a nonmonotonic behaviour of the spectrum at zero frequency, as a function of the mean rate of switchings, for randomly switching potential. The last feature is a new characterization of resonant activation phenomenon.