Characterization of the Most Probable Transition Paths of Stochastic Dynamical Systems with Stable Lévy Noise

Abstract: This work is devoted to the investigation of the most probable transition path for stochastic dynamical systems driven by either symmetric $\alpha$-stable L\'{e}vy motion ($0<\alpha<1$) or Brownian motion. For stochastic dynamical systems with Brownian motion, minimizing an action functional is a general method to determine the most probable transition path. We have developed a method based on path integrals to obtain the most probable transition path of stochastic dynamical systems with symmetric $\alpha$-stable L\'{e}vy motion or Brownian motion, and the most probable path can be characterized by a deterministic dynamical system.