Conundrum of weak noise limit for diffusion in a tilted periodic potential

TL;DR

This paper investigates the weak noise limit in a tilted periodic potential, revealing that ballistic diffusion can persist indefinitely as noise diminishes, challenging previous assumptions about diffusion behavior.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the weak noise limit of inertial Brownian particles, showing divergence of ballistic diffusion lifetime in bistable velocity regimes through advanced simulations.

Findings

Ballistic diffusion lifetime diverges as noise approaches zero.

Diffusion coefficient does not stabilize in the weak noise limit.

Everlasting ballistic diffusion emerges in certain parameter regimes.

Abstract

The weak noise limit of dissipative dynamical systems is often the most fascinating one. In such a case fluctuations can interact with a rich complexity frequently hidden in deterministic systems to give rise of completely new phenomena that are absent for both noiseless and strong fluctuations regimes. Unfortunately, this limit is also notoriously hard to approach analytically or numerically. We reinvestigate in this context the paradigmatic model of nonequlibrium statistical physics consisting of inertial Brownian particle diffusing in a tilted periodic potential by exploiting the state of the art computer simulations of unprecedented time scale. In contrast to the previous results on this long standing problem we draw an inference that in the parameter regime for which the particle velocity is bistable the lifetime of ballistic diffusion diverges to infinity when thermal noise intensity tends to zero, i.e. an everlasting ballistic diffusion emerges. As a consequence the diffusion coefficient does not reach its stationary constant value.