Hidden heat transfer in equilibrium states implies directed motion in nonequilibrium states

Abstract

We study a class of heat engines including Feynman's ratchet, which exhibits a directed motion of a particle in nonequilibrium steady states maintained by two heat baths. We measure heat transfer from each heat bath separately, and average them using a careful procedure that reveals the nature of the heat transfer associated with directed steps of the particle. Remarkably we find that steps are associated with nonvanishing heat transfer even in equilibrium, and there is a quantitative relation between this ``hidden heat transfer'' and the directed motion of the particle. This relation is clearly understood in terms of the ``principle of heat transfer enhancement'', which is expected to apply to a large class of highly nonequilibrium systems.

4 pages, 4 figures; revised

References in corpus (5)

• Brownian motors: noisy transport far from equilibrium
• Feynman's ratchet and pawl: an exactly solvable model
• The Carnot Cycle for Small Systems: Irreversibility and the Cost of Operations
• A heat pump at a molecular scale controlled by a mechanical force
• An oriented process induced by dynamically regulated energy barriers

Cited by in corpus (7)

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• An expression for stationary distribution in nonequilibrium steady state
• Thermal ratchet effect in confining geometries
• Transport coefficients for a confined Brownian ratchet operating between two heat reservoirs
• Symmetries of the ratchet current
• Master Equation and Two Heat Reservoirs
• Full Counting Statistics and Fluctuation Theorem for the Currents in the Discrete Model of Feynman's Ratchet