Autonomous Energy Transducer: Proposition, Example, Basic Characteristics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a molecular-scale autonomous energy transducer that converts small thermal energy inputs into output motion without external control, using a dynamical systems model with chaotic internal dynamics.

Contribution

It proposes a novel concept of autonomous energy transduction at the molecular level and demonstrates its feasibility through a dynamical systems model.

Findings

Transduction is robust and generally loosely coupled.

Chaotic internal dynamics are essential for transduction.

Self-organized active states facilitate energy flow.

Abstract

We propose a concept of autonomous energy transducer at a molecular scale, where output is produced with small input energy, of the same order of the thermal energy, without restriction of magnitude or timing of input, and without any control after the input. As an example that satisfies these requisites, a dynamical systems model with several degrees of freedom is proposed, which transduces input energy to output motion on the average. It is shown that this transduction is robust and the coupling between the input and output is generally loose. How this transducer works is analyzed in terms of dynamical systems theory, where chaotic dynamics of the internal degrees of freedom, as well as duration of active state which is self-organized with the energy flow, is essential. We also discuss possible relationships to enzyme dynamics or protein motors.