A composite micromotor driven by self-thermophoresis and Brownian rectification

Brownian motors and self-phoretic microswimmers are two typical micromotors, for which thermal fluctuations play different roles. Brownian motors utilize thermal noise to acquire unidirectional motion, while thermal fluctuations randomize the self-propulsion of self-phoretic microswimmers. Here we perform mesoscale simulations to study a composite micromotor composed of a self-thermophoretic Janus particle under a time-modulated external ratchet potential. The composite motor exhibits a unidirectional transport, whose direction can be reversed by tuning the modulation frequency of the external potential. The maximum transport capability is close to the superposition of the drift speed of the pure Brownian motor and the self-propelling speed of the pure self-thermophoretic particle. Moreover, the hydrodynamic effect influences the orientation of the Janus particle in the ratched potential, hence also the performance of the composite motor. Our work thus provides an enlightening attempt to actively exploit inevitable thermal fluctuations in the implementation of the self-phoretic microswimmers.     

Collective Transport of Coupled Brownian Motors with Low Randomness

The transport properties of coupled Brownian motors in rocking ratchet are investigated via solving Langevin equation. By means of velocity, diffusion coefficient, and their ratio （Peclet number）, different features from a single particle have been found. In the regime of low-to-moderate D, the average velocity of elastically coupled Brownian motors is larger than that of a single Brownian particles; the Peclet number of elastically coupled Brownian motors is peaked functions of intensity of noise D but the Peclet number of a single Brownian motor decreases monotonously with the increase of a single Brownian motor. The results exhibit an interesting cooperative behavior between coupled particles subjected to a rocking force, which can generate directed transport with low randomness or high transport coherence in symmetrical periodic potential.     

Adiabatic Brownian ratchets with the inclusion of inertia

Inertial corrections to the drift velocity of a Brownian particle have been calculated for two main classes of Brownian ratchets operating in the adiabatic regime of fluctuations of the potential energy: first, the stationary periodic potential and dichotomic fluctuations of an external force with zero average value (rocking ratchet) and, second, dichotomic fluctuations of the periodic potential itself. It has been shown that, in contrast to passive transport at which the inertial correction always reduces the effective mobility and diffusion coefficients, inertial corrections for Brownian ratchets can play a constructive role, increasing the drift velocity at least at high temperatures.     

A feedback-controlled Brownian ratchet operated by a temperature switch

In this paper, we present a model of the Brownian motor in a feedback controlled ratchet, in which the application of the flashing potential depends on the state of the particle to be controlled. We derive an analytical expression for the velocity induced by the feedback ratchet, which is a function of several parameters, including the ratio of the two switching temperatures and the asymmetry parameter of the potential field. The motor shows a current inversion when either parameter is varied.     

A feedback controlled Brownian ratchet operated by temperature switch

In this paper, we present a model of the Brownian motor in a feedback controlled ratchet, in which the application of the flashing potential depends on the state of the particle to be controlled. We derive an analytical expression for the velocity induced by the feedback ratchet, which is a function of several parameters, including the ratio of the two switching temperatures and the asymmetry parameter of the potential field. The motor shows a current inversion when either parameter is varied.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Performance characteristics of Brownian motors

Brownian motors are nonequilibrium systems that rectify thermal fluctuations to achieve directed motion, using spatial or temporal asymmetry. We provide a tutorial introduction to this basic concept using the well-known example of a flashing ratchet, discussing the micro- to nanoscopic scale on which such motors can operate. Because of the crucial role of thermal noise, the characterization of the performance of Brownian motors must include their fluctuations, and we review suitable performance measures for motor coherency and efficiency. Specifically, we highlight that it is possible to determine the energy efficiency of Brownian motors by measuring their velocity fluctuations, without detailed knowledge of the motor function and its energy input. Finally, we exemplify these concepts using a model for an artificial single-molecule motor with internal degrees of freedom.     

周期场中非各态历经布朗运动

将自由状态下呈弹道扩散的非各态历经系统置于周期场中,进而将非各态历经布朗运动分为两类.第一类是阻尼核的Laplace变换的低频为零的系统,当温度远大于势垒高度时,系统平均能量的动能部分依赖粒子的初始速度分布;随温度降低,系统的各态历经性得到恢复.然后将第一类系统的稳定速度变量作为一个内部噪声,再去驱动一个自由布朗粒子,则阻尼核的Laplace变换在零频时为无穷大.结果发现,粒子扩散系数随温度的增加而趋于零,显示一种经典局域化特征,系统的渐进分布依赖于初始坐标分布.这是第二类非各态历经性运动,不能通过外加势而恢复. 关键词： 非各态历经 非Markov布朗运动 扩散系数 噪声谱     

Irreversible Brownian Heat Engine

We model a Brownian heat engine as a Brownian particle that hops in a periodic ratchet potential where the ratchet potential is coupled with a linearly decreasing background temperature. We show that the efficiency of such Brownian heat engine approaches the efficiency of endoreversible engine \(\eta =1-\sqrt{{T_{c}/T_{h}}}\) [23]. On the other hand, the maximum power efficiency of the engine approaches \(\eta ^{MAX}=1-({T_{c}/T_{h}})^{1\over 4}\). It is shown that the optimized efficiency always lies between the efficiency at quasistatic limit and the efficiency at maximum power while the efficiency at maximum power is always less than the optimized efficiency since the fast motion of the particle comes at the expense of the energy cost. If the heat exchange at the boundary of the heat baths is included, we show that such a Brownian heat engine has a higher performance when acting as a refrigerator than when operating as a device subjected to a piecewise constant temperature. The role of time on the performance of the motor is also explored via numerical simulations. Our numerical results depict that the time t and the external load dictate the direction of the particle velocity. Moreover, the performance of the heat engine improves with time. At large t (steady state), the velocity, the efficiency and the coefficient of performance of the refrigerator attain their maximum value. Furthermore, we study the effect of temperature by considering a viscous friction that decreases exponentially as the background temperature increases. Our result depicts that the Brownian particle exhibits a fast unidirectional motion when the viscous friction is temperature dependent than that of constant viscous friction. Moreover, the efficiency of this motor is considerably enhanced when the viscous friction is temperature dependent. On the hand, the motor exhibits a higher performance of the refrigerator when the viscous friction is taken to be constant.     

活性布朗粒子运动的稳态解

拟可积Hamilton系统随机平均法可以用来研究活性布朗粒子运动.介绍了该随机平均法，利用它详细求解了布朗粒子运动的动力学方程，该方程描述了活性布朗粒子在平面上的运动，粒子受到的激励是Gaussian白噪声，受到的阻尼是Schienbein-Gruler速度依赖的磨擦模型.通过与数字模拟和与实验数据的比较，证明所得稳态解正确.对于Rayleigh和Erdamnn速度依赖的磨擦模型，也给出了稳态解. 关键词： 活性布朗粒子 拟可积Hamilton系统随机平均法 可积性 稳态解     

Brownian motion under a time-dependent periodic potential proportional to the square of the position of a particle and classical fluctuation squeezing

A general stationary case of a Brownian particle with a time-dependent periodic potential proportional to the square of the position of the particle is treated. Even though the vigorous change of the time-dependent proportionality coefficient is applied, there are cases where the fluctuation of the particle decreases in contrary to our intuition, which is called classical fluctuation squeezing. We obtain time-average variances analytically for general cases of an arbitrary change in the coefficient and find conditions favorable for classical fluctuation squeezing. We introduce an asymmetric function behaves like trigonometric cosine one and consider its behavior explicitly.     

Mean first passage time of active Brownian particle in one dimension

We investigate the mean first passage time of an active Brownian particle in one dimension using numerical simulations. The activity in one dimension is modelled as a two state model; the particle moves with a constant propulsion strength but its orientation switches from one state to other as in a random telegraphic process. We study the influence of a finite resetting rate r on the mean first passage time to a fixed target of a single free active Brownian particle and map this result using an effective diffusion process. As in the case of a passive Brownian particle, we can find an optimal resetting rate r* for an active Brownian particle for which the target is found with the minimum average time. In the case of the presence of an external potential, we find good agreement between the theory and numerical simulations using an effective potential approach.     

Brownian motion with inert drift, but without flux: A model

We study the motion of a Brownian particle which interacts with a stationary obstacle in two dimensions. The Brownian particle acquires drift proportionally to the time spent on the boundary of the obstacle. The system approaches equilibrium, and the equilibrium distribution for the location and drift magnitude has the product form. The distribution for the location is uniform, while the drift distribution depends on the shape of the obstacle, resembling a gamma function for the circular or elliptic obstacle.     

New Type of Brownian Motion

We consider an oscillator with a random mass for which the particles of the surrounding medium adhere to the oscillator for some random time after the collision (Brownian motion with adhesion for a harmonically bound particle). This is another form of a stochastic oscillator, different from oscillator usually studied that is subject to a random force or having random frequency or random damping. Calculation of the first two stationary moments shows that for white multiplicative noise of week strength the second moment coincides with that of usual Brownian motion, but for symmetric dichotomous noise, the second moment may appear the same type of the “energetic” instability, which exists for white noise random frequency or damping coefficient.     

Controllable 3D atomic Brownian motor in optical lattices

We study a Brownian motor, based on cold atoms in optical lattices, where atomic motion can be induced in a controlled manner in an arbitrary direction, by rectification of isotropic random fluctuations. In contrast with ratchet mechanisms, our Brownian motor operates in a potential that is spatially and temporally symmetric, in apparent contradiction to the Curie principle. Simulations, based on the Fokker-Planck equation, allow us to gain knowledge on the qualitative behaviour of our Brownian motor. Studies of Brownian motors, and in particular ones with unique control properties, are of fundamental interest because of the role they play in protein motors and their potential applications in nanotechnology. In particular, our system opens the way to the study of quantum Brownian motors.     

Nonergodic Brownian Motion

The long-time behavior of a system is suggested to confirm nonergodicity of non-Markovian Brownian dynamics, namely, whether the stationary probability density function （PDF） of the system characterized mainly by low moments of variables depends on the initial preparation. Thus we classify nonergodic Brownian motion into two classes： the class-I is that the PDF of a force-free particle depends on the initial velocity and the equilibration can be recovered through a bounded potential; while the PDF in the class-H depends on the initial coordinate and the equilibration can not be approached by introducing any potential. We also compare our result with the conditions of three kinds for ergodicity.     

Fluctuation on Brownian motor in the presence of entropic barrier

Transporting velocity of a loaded Brownian motor with entropic barrier is investigated in the presence of an asymmetric unbiased force. It is found that in the presence of the entropic barrier, the stall force of the Brownian motor does not change monotonously with temperature. The average velocity of the Brownian motor is a peaked function of thermal noise and amplitude of the asymmetric unbiased external force, which indicates that a definite fluctuation can facilitate the loaded Brownian motor moving. With the increase of the load, the range of temperature and amplitude of the asymmetric unbiased external force for Brownian motor working become smaller. The limited area for Brownian motor working is given on the load-temperature plane. The threshold of fluctuation for Brownian motor working is found, and the minimum of asymmetric parameter of unbiased external force for Brownian motor working is given.