Interaction Induced Directed Transport in AC-Driven Periodic Potentials

TL;DR

This paper shows that repulsive power law interactions can cause directed particle transport in ac-driven periodic potentials, through collective behavior and traveling excitations, even when individual particles are localized.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interaction-induced transport mechanism based on collective dynamics in dissipative, ac-driven systems, contrasting with traditional single-particle ratchets.

Findings

Interaction-induced directed transport observed

Collective traveling excitations identified as key mechanism

Transport occurs despite localized single-particle dynamics

Abstract

We demonstrate that repulsive power law interactions can induce directed transport of particles in dissipative, ac-driven periodic potentials, in regimes where the underlying noninteracting system exhibits localized oscillations. Contrasting the well-established single particle ratchet mechanism, this interaction induced transport is based on the collective behaviour of the interacting particles yielding a spatiotemporal nonequilibrium pattern comprising persistent travelling excitations.