Mechanical coupling in flashing ratchets
arXiv:cond-mat/0602097 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.73.051106
Abstract
We consider the transport of rigid objects with internal structure in a flashing ratchet potential by investigating the overdamped behavior of a rod-like chain of evenly spaced point particles. In 1D, analytical arguments show that the velocity can reverse direction multiple times in response to changing the size of the chain or the temperature of the heat bath. The physical reason is that the effective potential experienced by the mechanically coupled objects can have a different symmetry than that of individual objects. All analytical predictions are confirmed by Brownian dynamics simulations. These results may provide a route to simple, coarse-grained models of molecular motor transport that incorporate an object's size and rotational degrees of freedom into the mechanism of transport.
9 pages, 10 figures
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- Michaelis-Menten dynamics of a polymer chain out of a dichotomous ATP-based motor
- Active translocation of a semiflexible polymer assisted by an ATP-based molecular motor
- Polymer dynamics in time-dependent periodic potentials
- End-pulled polymer translocation through a many-body flexible pore
- Characteristics of the polymer transport in ratchet systems