Limit cycle induced by multiplicative noise in a system of coupled Brownian motors

Abstract

We study a model consisting of $N$ nonlinear oscillators with {\em global periodic} coupling and {\em local multiplicative} and additive noises. The model was shown to undergo a nonequilibrium phase transition towards a broken-symmetry phase exhibiting noise-induced "ratchet" behavior. A previous study \cite{[7]} focused on the relationship between the character of thehysteresis loop, the number of ``homogeneous'' mean-field solutions and the shape of the stationary mean-field probability distribution function. Here we show --as suggested by the absence of stable solutions when the load force is beyond a critical value-- the existence of a limit cycle induced by both:multiplicative noise and {\em global periodic} coupling.

Submitted to Phys. Rev. E, RevTex, 18 pgs, 5 figures