Deterministic inhomogeneous inertia ratchets

We study the deterministic dynamics of a periodically driven particle in the underdamped case in a spatially symmetric periodic potential. The system is subjected to a space-dependent friction coefficient, which is similarly periodic as the potential but with a phase difference. We observe that frictional inhomogeneity in a symmetric periodic potential mimics most of the qualitative features of deterministic dynamics in a homogeneous system with an asymmetric periodic potential. We point out the need of averaging over the initial phase of the external drive at small frictional inhomogeneity parameter values or analogously low potential asymmetry regimes in obtaining ratchet current. We also show that at low amplitudes of the drive, where ratchet current is not possible in the deterministic case, noise plays a significant role in realizing ratchet current.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

Work Fluctuations and Stochastic Resonance

We study Brownian particle motion in a double-well potential driven by an ac force. This system exhibits the phenomenon of stochastic resonance. Distribution of work done on the system over a drive period in the time asymptotic regime have been calculated. We show that fluctuations in the input energy or work done dominate the mean value. The mean value of work done over a period as a function of noise strength can also be used to characterise stochastic resonance in the system. We also discuss the validity of steady state fluctuation theorems in this particular system.Comment: 5 page

Stochastic resonance and heat fluctuations in a driven double-well system

We study a periodically driven (symmetric as well as asymmetric)double-well potential system at finite temperature. We show that mean heat loss by the system to the environment(bath) per period of the applied field is a good quantifier of stochastic resonance. It is found that the heat fluctuations over a single period are always larger than the work fluctuations. The observed distributions of work and heat exhibit pronounced asymmetry near resonance. The heat losses over a large number of periods satisfies the conventional steady-state fluctuation theorem, though different relation exists for this quantity.Comment: modified version, 10 figure