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Directed transport of Brownian particles in a changing temperature field. (English) Zbl 1189.82110

J. Phys. A, Math. Theor. 41, No. 1, Article ID 015002, 26 p. (2008); corrigendum ibid. 43, Article ID 229801 (2010).
Summary: We study the interaction of Brownian particles with a changing temperature field in the presence of a one-dimensional periodic adiabatic potential. We show the existence of directed transport through the determination of the overall current of Brownian particles crossing the boundary of the system. With respect to the case of Brownian particles in a thermal bath, we determine a current which exhibits a contribution explicitly related to the presence of a thermal gradient. Beyond the self-consistent calculation of the temperature and probability density distribution of Brownian particles, we evaluate the energy consumption for directed transport to take place. Our description is based on Streater’s model, and solutions are obtained by perturbing the system from its initial thermodynamic equilibrium state.

MSC:

82C70 Transport processes in time-dependent statistical mechanics
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