Nonequilibrium steady state of Brownian motion in an intermittent potential

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the nonequilibrium steady state of a Brownian particle in an intermittently switching potential, revealing universal tail behavior, effective potential modifications, and a dynamical phase transition in one-dimensional periodic systems.

Contribution

It provides explicit calculations of the steady state distribution, tail behaviors, and phase transition phenomena for Brownian motion in intermittent potentials, extending understanding of nonequilibrium steady states.

Findings

Universal tail behavior independent of potential

Effective potential is halved in the rapid-switching limit

Identification of a first-order dynamical phase transition

Abstract

We calculate the steady state distribution $P_{\text{SSD}}(\boldsymbol{X})$ of the position of a Brownian particle under an intermittent confining potential that switches on and off with a constant rate $\gamma$. We assume the external potential $U(\boldsymbol{x})$ to be smooth and have a unique global minimum at $\boldsymbol{x} = \boldsymbol{x}_0$, and in dimension $d>1$ we additionally assume that $U(\boldsymbol{x})$ is central. We focus on the rapid-switching limit $\gamma \to \infty$. Typical fluctuations follow a Boltzmann distribution $P_{\text{SSD}}(\boldsymbol{X}) \sim e^{- U_{\text{eff}}(\boldsymbol{X}) / D}$, with an effective potential $U_{\text{eff}}(\boldsymbol{X}) = U(\boldsymbol{X})/2$, where $D$ is the diffusion coefficient. However, we also calculate the tails of $P_{\text{SSD}}(\boldsymbol{X})$ which behave very differently. In the far tails $|\boldsymbol{X}| \to \infty$, a universal behavior $P_{\text{SSD}}\left(\boldsymbol{X}\right)\sim e^{-\sqrt{\gamma/D} \, \left|\boldsymbol{X}-\boldsymbol{x}_{0}\right|}$ emerges, that is independent of the trapping potential. The mean first-passage time to reach position $\boldsymbol{X}$ is given, in the leading order, by $\sim 1/P_{\text{SSD}}(\boldsymbol{X})$. This coincides with the Arrhenius law (for the effective potential $U_{\text{eff}}$) for $\boldsymbol{X} \simeq \boldsymbol{x}_0$, but deviates from it elsewhere. We give explicit results for the harmonic potential. Finally, we extend our results to periodic one-dimensional systems. Here we find that in the limit of $\gamma \to \infty$ and $D \to 0$, the logarithm of $P_{\text{SSD}}(X)$ exhibits a singularity which we interpret as a first-order dynamical phase transition (DPT). This DPT occurs in absence of any external drift. We also calculate the nonzero probability current in the steady state that is a result of the nonequilibrium nature of the system.