Figure 4

Distribution of exit times for a fully connected network of 3 nodes, with α = 0.05, λ = 0.9 and β = 1. The histogram represents numerically obtained escape times from a large number of simulations, normalised to represent a probability density function. The solid line shows an exponential probability density function P(τ) = γ exp(-γ τ) where γ ≃ 0.007 is the reciprocal of the mean of the numerically obtained escape times. The histogram is well matched by the exponential distribution apart from at short times. This is because the initial conditions z = 0 make it difficult for the system to instantly jump over the escape barrier. These data suggest that the escape process is Poissonian except for at very short times.