Nonlinear vibrational resonance

We examine the nonlinear response of a bistable system driven by a high-frequency force to a low-frequency weak field. It is shown that the rapidly varying temporal oscillation breaks the spatial symmetry of the centrosymmetric potential. This gives rise to a finite nonzero response at the second harmonic of the low-frequency field, which can be optimized by an appropriate choice of vibrational amplitude of the high-frequency field close to that for the linear response. The potential implications of the nonlinear vibrational resonance are analyzed.