# Spontaneous rectification and absolute negative mobility of inertial Brownian particles induced by Gaussian potentials in steady laminar flows

## TL;DR

This study investigates how inertial Brownian particles in laminar flows exhibit spontaneous rectification and absolute negative mobility due to Gaussian potentials, revealing complex transport behaviors and potential experimental applications.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that Gaussian potentials can induce and control negative mobility and rectification in inertial Brownian particles within steady laminar flows, a novel insight into particle transport.

## Key findings

- Particles show spontaneous rectification depending on potential position.
- Absolute negative mobility occurs when potential is at flow center.
- ANM robustness and enhancement with optimized parameters.

## Abstract

We study the transport of inertial Brownian particles in steady laminar flows in the presence of two-dimensional Gaussian potentials. Through extensive numerical simulations, it is found that the transport is sensitively dependent on the external constant force and the Gaussian potential. Within tailored parameter regimes, the system exhibits a rich variety of transport behaviors. In the absence of any external driving forces, the spontaneous rectification of the particles can be manipulated by the spatial position of the Gaussian potential. Moreover, when the potential lies at the center of the cellular flow, the system exhibits absolute negative mobility (ANM), i.e., the particles can move in a direction opposite to the constant force. More importantly, the phenomenon of ANM induced by Gaussian potential is robust in a wider range of the system parameters and can be further strengthened with the optimized parameters, which may pave the way to the implementation of related experiments.