Transport and current reversal in stochastically driven ratchets

TL;DR

This paper provides analytical expressions for current in a periodically driven stochastic system, revealing how noise spectrum shape influences current direction and demonstrating current reversal phenomena.

Contribution

It offers a general analytical framework for understanding current behavior in noisy ratchet systems with arbitrary potentials and noise spectra.

Findings

Current direction depends on the noise power spectrum shape.

Current reversal occurs when the noise spectrum has extrema at zero frequency.

Analytical results are valid for weak Gaussian noise to second order in (t_c/t_r)^2.

Abstract

We present analytic results for the current in a system moving in an arbitrary periodic potential and driven by weak Gaussian noise with an arbitrary power spectrum which are valid to order (t_c/t_r)^2, where t_c is the largest characteristic time of the noise, and t_r is the characteristic intrawell relaxation time. The dependence of the current on the shape of the potential, and on the shape of the power spectrum of the noise is illustrated. It is demonstrated that the direction of the current is opposite when the power spectrum of the noise has minimum or maximum at zero frequency. A simple physical mechanism for this behavior is suggested. The behavior of the system in the limit of slow noise (t_c >>t_r) is also discussed. .