Bekele, Mulugeta (PhD)Jemama, Bekele2018-06-192023-11-092018-06-192023-11-092007-07http://10.90.10.223:4000/handle/123456789/1716Stochastic resonance is an essentially nonlinear phenomenon, requiring the presence of an energetic activation barrier, a weak coherent input signal and a source of noise whereby generally feeble input information such as a weak signal can be ampli¯ed and optimized by the assistance of noise. In order to study this phenomenon, we propose a model which enable us to convert a monostable potential to a bistable one through a mechanism called belowtorch e®ect. Having successfully estabilshed the bistable potential, we consider motion of a Brownian particle subjected to random force de- scribing noise and weak periodic force in a highly viscous non-homogenous medium and the bistable potential with spatially varying background temperature. We use a numerical technique to compute some of the observables (such as signal-to-noise-ratio and spectral ampli¯cation) that are actually used to quantify stochastic resonance. The result shows that the response of the system undergoes resonance-like behavior as a function of hot temperature. The existence of this resonance-like behavior is still the identifying characteristic of the stochastic resonance phenomenonenStochastic Resonance due to ThermallyThesis