Multistability, noise, and attractor hopping: The crucial role of chaotic saddles

We investigate the hopping dynamics between different attractors in a multistable system under the influence of noise. Using symbolic dynamics we find a sudden increase of dynamical entropies, when a system parameter is varied. This effect is explained by a bifurcation involving two chaotic saddles. We also demonstrate that the transient lifetimes on the saddle obey a scaling law in analogy to crisis.