Brownian pump induced by the phase difference between the potential and the entropic barrier

Transport of Brownian particles in a finite channel is investigated in the presence of asymmetric potential and an unbiased external force. It is found that the phase differencebetween the potential (energetic barriers) and the entropic barrier can break the symmetryof the system and control the transport of Brownian particles. Especially, the particlescan be pumped through the channel from a reservoir at low concentration to one at the sameor higher concentration. There exist optimized values of the parameters (the temperatureand the amplitude of the external force) at which the pumping capacity takes its maximumvalue. The pumping capacity decreases with increasing the radius at the bottleneck of thechannel.     

Particle Transport with Asymmetric Unbiased Forces and Entropic Barrier

Transport of a Brownian particle moving along the axis of a three-dimensional （313） symmetric and periodic tube is investigated in the presence of asymmetric unbiased forces. It is found that in the presence of entropic barrier, the asymmetry of the unbiased forces is a way of inducing a net particle current. The particle current is a peaked function of temperature, which indicates that the thermal noise may facilitate the transport even in the presence of entropic barrier. There exists an optimized radius at the bottleneck at which the particle current takes its maximum value. The current can be influenced by the slope of tube walls and there exists an optimized slope for which the particle current takes its maximum value.     

Behaviour of the current in a two-dimensional Bttiker Landauer motor with entropic barriers

The behaviour of the current in a two-dimensional Büttiker--Landauer motor, which is a position-dependent temperature-driven Brownian motor, is investigated in the presence of entropic and energy barriers. It is found that the motion of the Brownian particles is influenced by the shape of the channel. The existence of an entropic barrier can cause an asymmetric current as the flatness ratio of the shape varies. There exists an optimized flatness ratio (nonzero) at which the current reaches its maximum value.     

Near-surface Brownian motor with synchronously fluctuating symmetric potential and applied force

A model is suggested which accounts for the unidirectional surface-parallel motion of a Brownian particle under the action of fluctuating surface-inclined unbiased external force. The surface-normal force component induces amplitude fluctuations of the symmetric periodic near-surface potential, whereas the surface-parallel component makes the particle move along the surface. The combined effect of synchronous fluctuations of the symmetric potential and the applied force leads to the longitudinal drift of the particle. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the motor velocity is nonmonotonic, with the maximum governed by the range of the near-surface potential.     

Current Inversion in a Temperature Ratchet with Asymmetric Unbiased External Forces

Transport of a Brownian particle moving in a symmetric potential is investigated in the presence of an asymmetric unbiased external force. The viscous medium is alternately in contact with the two heat reservoirs. We present the analytical expression of the net current at the quasi-steady state limit. It is found that the competition of the temporal asymmetric parameter of the driving force with the temperature difference leads to current reversals. The competition between the two opposite driving factors is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for current reversals.     

Brownian pump with an unbiased external force

We investigate Brownian pump transport in the presence of an unbiased external force. The pumping system is embedded in a finite region bounded by two particle reservoirs. In the adiabatic limit, we obtain the analytical expressions of the current and the concentration ratio. We find that Brownian particles can be pumped through an asymmetric potential from a particle reservoir at low concentration to one at the same or higher concentration in the presence of an unbiased external force.      

Current Reversal Due to Coupling Between Asymmetrical Driving Force and Ratchet Potential

Transport of a Brownian particle moving in a periodic potential is investigated in the presence of an asymmetric unbiased external force. The asymmetry of the external force and the asymmetry of the potential are the two ways of inducing a net current. It is found that the competition of the spatial asymmetry of potential with the temporal asymmetry of the external force leads to the phenomena like current reversal. The competition between the two opposite driving factors is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for current reversals.     

Directed transport of coupled Brownian ratchets with time-delayed feedback

A time-delayed feedback ratchet consisting of two Brownian particles interacting through the elastic spring is consid ered. The model describes the directed transport of coupled Brownian particles in an asymmetric two-well ratchet potential which can be calculated theoretically and implemented experimentally. We explore how the centre-of-mass velocity is af fected by the time delay, natural length of the spring, amplitude strength, angular frequency, external force, and the structure of the potential. It is found that the enhancement of the current can be obtained by varying the coupling strength of the delayed feedback system. When the thermal fluctuation and the harmonic potential match appropriately, directed current evolves periodically with the natural length of the spring and can achieve a higher transport coherence. Moreover, the external force and the amplitude strength can enhance the directed transport of coupled Brownian particles under certain conditions. It is expected that the polymer of large biological molecules may demonstrate a variety of novel cooperative effects in real propelling devices.     

Transport enhancement and efficiency optimization in two heat reservoir ratchets

We study a Brownian motor moving in a sawtooth potential in the presence of an external driving force and two heat reservoirs. Based on the corresponding Fokker--Planck equation, the analytical expressions of the current and efficiency in the quasi-steady-state limit are obtained. The effects of temperature difference and the amplitude of the external driving force on the current and efficiency are discussed, respectively. The following is our findings. (i) The current increases with both δ and A. In other words, δ and A enhance the transport of the Brownian motor. (ii) The competition between the temperature difference and the amplitude of the external driving force can lead to efficiency optimization. The efficiency is a peaked function of temperature, i.e., δ>0 and a lower amplitude value of the external driving force is necessary for efficiency optimization. (iii) The efficiency increases with δ, and decreases with A. δ and A play opposite roles with respect to the efficiency, which indicates that δ enhances the efficiency of energy transformation while A weakens it.     

Current reversals in an inhomogeneous system with asymmetric unbiased fluctuations

We present a study of the transport of a Brownian particle moving in a periodic symmetric potential in the presence of asymmetric unbiased fluctuations. The particle is considered to move in a medium with periodic space dependent friction. By tuning the parameters of the system, the direction of the current exhibits reversals, both as a function of temperature as well as the amplitude of rocking force. We found that the mutual interplay between the opposite driving factors is the necessary term for current reversals.Received: 11 October 2003, Published online: 9 April 2004PACS: 05.40.-a Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion - 02.50.Ey Stochastic processes - 87.10. + e General theory and mathematical aspects     

时间非对称外力驱动分数阶布朗马达的定向输运

本文研究了周期对称势中时间非对称外力驱动的布朗粒子输运现象, 建立了分数阶布朗马达输运模型. 其中外力是零均值的, 而分数阶阶数则刻画了客观环境的非均匀性程度. 通过将模型离散化进行数值模拟, 讨论了分数阶阶数、系统参量和外部参量与定向流之间的依赖关系. 研究表明, 即使没有倾斜势场的作用, 时间非对称外力也可以诱导系统产生定向输运; 输运速度随分数阶阶数的增大而单调递增; 当阶数固定时, 系统的输运速度会随着势垒高度、噪声强度非单调变化, 表现出广义随机共振现象. 分析指出, 分数阶郎之万方程所刻画的输运现象是在整数阶模型基础上的一个推广, 进而为输运现象提供了一个可能更为真实的模型.     

Current and efficiency optimization under oscillating forces in entropic barriers

The transport of externally overdriven particles confined in entropic barriers is investigated under various types of oscillating and temporal forces.Temperature,load,and amplitude dependence of the particle current and energy conversion efficiency are investigated in three dimensions.For oscillating forces,the optimized temperature–load,amplitude–temperature,and amplitude–load intervals are determined when fixing the amplitude,load,and temperature,respectively.By using three-dimensional plots rather than two-dimensional ones,it is clearly shown that oscillating forces provide more efficiency compared with a temporal one in specified optimized parameter regions.Furthermore,the dependency of efficiency to the angle between the unbiased driving force and a constant force is investigated and an asymmetric angular dependence is found for all types of forces.Finally,it is shown that oscillating forces with a high amplitude and under a moderate load lead to higher efficiencies than a temporal force at both low and high temperatures for the entire range of contact angle.     

Performance characteristics of an irreversible thermally driven Brownian microscopic heat engine

Brownian particles moving in a spatially asymmetric but periodic potential (ratchet), with an external load force and connected to an alternating hot and cold reservoir, are modeled as a microscopic heat engine, referred to as the Brownian heat engine. The heat flow via both the potential energy and the kinetic energy of the particles are considered simultaneously. The forward and backward particle currents are determined using an Arrhenius' factor. Expressions for the power output and efficiency are derived analytically. The maximum power output and efficiency are calculated. It is expounded that the Brownian heat engine is always irreversible and its efficiency cannot approach the efficiency η_C of the Carnot heat engine even in quasistatic limit. The influence of the main parameters such as the load, the barrier height of the potential, the asymmetry of the potential and the temperature ratio of the heat reservoirs on the performance of the Brownian heat engine is discussed in detail. It is found that the Brownian heat engines may be controlled to operate in different regions through variation of some parameters.     

Current reversal and mass separation of inertial Brownian motors in a two-noise ratchet

Transport of an inertial Brownian motor moving in an asymmetric periodic potential driven by an external force and correlated noises is investigated. Using the numerical algorithm, the asymptotic mean velocity (AMV) for characterizing directed transport is obtained. The effects of the external driving force f and the correlation λ between the two noises on the AMV are discussed. The results manifest: (1) the external driving force and the correlation between the two noises can lead to the phenomena like current reversal. (2) The competitions among the external driving force and the correlation between the two noises are necessary for current reversal, i.e., fλ>0. (3) Different directions of transport are found for different masses of the Brownian particles under the condition fλ>0. Therefore a theoretical study is suggested for separating Brownian particles according to their different masses in the ratchet system.     

Entropic Stochastic Resonance Driven by Colored Noise

The phenomenon of entropic stochastic resonance （ESR） in a two-dimensional confined system driven by a transverse periodic force is investigated when the colored fluctuation is included in the system. Applying the method of unified colored noise approximation, the approximate Fokker-Planck equation can be derived in the absence of the periodic force. Through the escaping rate of the Brownian particle from one well to the other, the power spectral amplification can be obtained. It is found that increasing the values of the noise correlation time and the signal frequency can suppress the ESR of the system.     

Mechanism for the appearance of a high-efficiency Brownian motor with fluctuating potential

A version of a Brownian motor (system generating a unidirectional motion of a Brownian particle in an asymmetric fluctuating potential) is considered for the case where the potential consists of an asymmetric periodic component undergoing random shifts by a half-period L with a certain frequency and the potential of an external force F. The high efficiency of such a motor (ratio of the useful work against the load force F to the energy imparted to the particle due to the potential shifts) is due to a high and narrow barrier, as well as to a smooth arbitrarily shaped potential relief repeated with an energy shift on both half-periods L. Simple analytic expressions are obtained for the flux and efficiency as functions of the load force over a wide frequency range.     

过阻尼布朗棘轮的斯托克斯效率研究

根据随机能量理论解析得到阻尼环境中布朗粒子的概率流和斯托克斯效率,并进一步研究布朗粒子的输运性能.详细讨论了空间的不对称性、外偏置力及外势结构等对棘轮定向输运的影响.研究发现,合适的外偏置力能使棘轮的定向输运达到最强.通过调节外势的不对称性可使棘轮中粒子的运动反向,当选择合适的空间不对称性时布朗粒子的反向输运可获得最强.此外,一定条件下合适的外势高度也能增强棘轮输运,且能使粒子克服黏滞阻力的斯托克斯效率达到最大.所得结论能够启发实验上设计合适的外势及外偏置来优化布朗棘轮的定向输运性能,并为生物纳米器件的研制提供一定的理论参考.     

Anomalous transport and diffusion phenomena induced by biharmonic forces in deformable potential systems

We study transport properties of an inertial Brownian motor which moves in a deformable Remoissenet-Peyrad periodic potential and is subjected to both a static bias force and time periodic driving biharmonic force. By modifying the shape of the potential, the anomalous transport is identified for a particular set of the system parameters. For a particular potential shape, the mean velocity of a particle is modified by going from negative to positive values according to the external bias force. These features also depend on both the biharmonic parameter and the phase-lag of two signals. A remarkable transition of the negative velocity depending on the shape of the potential is observed. We also focus on the efficiency of the motor and discuss velocity fluctuation. In addition, within selected system parameters, different types of diffusion particle such as subdiffusion, superdiffusion, normal diffusion, ballistic diffusion, hyperdiffusion and dispersionless transport phenomena are generated in the system.     

Current and efficiency of Brownian particles under oscillating forces in entropic barriers

In this study, considering the temporarily unbiased force and different forms of oscillating forces, we investigate the current and efficiency of Brownian particles in an entropic tube structure and present the numerically obtained results.We show that different force forms give rise to different current and efficiency profiles in different optimized parameter intervals. We find that an unbiased oscillating force and an unbiased temporal force lead to the current and efficiency,which are dependent on these parameters. We also observe that the current and efficiency caused by temporal and different oscillating forces have maximum and minimum values in different parameter intervals. We conclude that the current or efficiency can be controlled dynamically by adjusting the parameters of entropic barriers and applied force.