Cooperative molecular motors

Transitions in the horizontal transport of vertically vibrated granular layers

Motivated by recent advances in the investigation of fluctuation-driven ratchets and flows in excited granular media, we have carried out experimental and simulational studies to explore the horizontal transport of granular particles in a vertically vibrated system whose base has a sawtooth-shaped profile. The resulting material flow exhibits novel collective behavior, both as a function of the number of layers of particles and the driving frequency; in particular, under certain conditions, increasing the layer thickness leads to a reversal of the current, while the onset of transport as a function of frequency occurs gradually in a manner reminiscent of a phase transition. Our experimental findings are interpreted here with the help of extensive, event driven Molecular Dynamics simulations. In addition to reproducing the experimental results, the simulations revealed that the current may be reversed as a function of the driving frequency as well. We also give details about the simulations so that similar numerical studies can be carried out in a more straightforward manner in the future.

Energy transduction of isothermal ratchets: generic aspects and specific examples close to and far from equilibrium

We study the energetics of isothermal ratchets which are driven by a chemical reaction between two states, and operate in contact with a single heat bath of constant temperature. We discuss generic aspects of energy transduction such as Onsager relations in the linear response regime as well as the efficiency and dissipation close to and far from equilibrium. In the linear response regime where the system operates reversibly, the efficiency is in general nonzero. Studying the properties for specific examples of energy landscapes and transitions, we observe in the linear response regime that the efficiency can have a maximum as a function of temperature. Far from equilibrium in the fully irreversible regime, we find a maximum of the efficiency with values larger than in the linear regime for an optimal choice of the chemical driving force. We show that the corresponding efficiencies can be of the order of 50%. A simple analytic argument allows us to estimate the efficiency in this irreversible regime for small external forces.

Collective transport in locally asymmetric periodic structures

In this paper we give an overview of the cooperative effects in fluctuation driven transport arising from the interaction of a large number of particles. (i) First, we study a model with finite-sized, overdamped Brownian particles interacting via hard-core repulsion. Computer simulations and theoretical calculations reveal a number of novel cooperative transport phenomena in this system, including the reversal of direction of the net current as the particle density is increased, and a very strong and complex dependence of the average velocity on both the size and the average distance of the particles. (ii) Next, we consider the cooperation of a collection of motors rigidly attached to a backbone. This system possesses dynamical phase transition allowing spontaneous directed motion even if the system is spatially symmetric. (iii) Finally, we report on an experimental investigation exploring the horizontal transport of granular particles in a vertically vibrated system whose base has a sawtooth-shaped profile. The resulting material flow exhibits complex collective behavior, both as a function of the number of layers of particles and the driving frequency; in particular, under certain conditions, increasing the layer thickness leads to a reversal of the current, while the onset of transport as a function of frequency occurs gradually in a manner reminiscent of a phase transition. (c) 1998 American Institute of Physics.