Something that is bistable can be resting in two states. In physics, for an ensemble of particles, the bistability comes from the fact that its free energy has three critical points. Two of them are minima and the last is a maximum. By mathematical arguments, the maximum must lie between the two minima. By default, the system state will be in either of the minima states, because that corresponds to the state of lowest energy. The maximum can be visualised as a barrier.
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