Dispersionless transport in a washboard potential

TL;DR

This paper identifies a novel nondispersive, coherent transport regime for underdamped particles in a tilted washboard potential, characterized by constant velocity and non-Gaussian distribution, distinct from known regimes.

Contribution

The study introduces and characterizes a new dynamical regime of nondispersive transport in a washboard potential for particles with small friction.

Findings

Particles move coherently with constant velocity

Distribution of positions is non-Gaussian

Regime exists for small friction and specific force ranges

Abstract

We study and characterize a new dynamical regime of underdamped particles in a tilted washboard potential. We find that for small friction in a finite range of forces the particles move essentially nondispersively, that is, coherently, over long intervals of time. The associated distribution of the particle positions moves at an essentially constant velocity and is far from Gaussian-like. This new regime is complementary to, and entirely different from, well-known nonlinear response and large dispersion regimes observed for other values of the external force.