Resonant activation in the presence of nonequilibrated baths

We study the generic problem of the escape of a classical particle over a fluctuating barrier under the influence of non-Gaussian noise mimicking the effects of nonequilibrated bath. The model system is described by a Langevin equation with two independent noise sources, one of which stands for the dichotomous process and the other describes external driving by alpha-stable noise. Our attention focuses on the effect of the structure of stable noises on the mean escape time and on the phenomenon of resonant activation. Possible physical interpretation of the occurrence of Lévy noises and the relevance of the model for chemical kinetics is briefly discussed.