Noise-induced Escape from the Lorenz Attractor

Noise-induced escape from a quasi-hyperbolic attractor in the Lorenz system is investigated via an analysis of the distributions of both the escape trajectories and the corresponding realizations of the random force. It is shown that a unique escape path exists, and that it consists of three parts with noise playing a different role in each. It is found that the mechanism of the escape from a quasi-hyperbolic attractor differs from that of escape from a non-hyperbolic attractor. The possibility of calculating the escape probability is discussed.