Roughness-induced transport enhancement via non-equilibrium fluctuations

Li-Ming Fan, Ming-Gen Li, Tian-Fu Gao and Jing-Dong Bao

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2025, vol. 201, issue P3

Abstract: Understanding and controlling transport in systems far from thermal equilibrium is a fundamental goal in physics, biology, and nanotechnology. A canonical principle in this field is that landscape roughness almost universally acts as a detrimental factor that impedes particle motion and suppresses directed transport. Here, we challenge this paradigm by demonstrating that for particles driven by discrete non-equilibrium shot noise, engineered landscape roughness can act not as a dissipative obstacle, but as a constructive engine that enhances directed transport. This enhancement drives the particle to a velocity that significantly exceeds the free-particle limit-the average velocity resulting purely from the drive in the absence of a potential. We trace this effect to a novel dynamic mechanism we term unidirectional slide inhibition. Arising from a synergy between the potential’s global asymmetry and its local roughness, this mechanism effectively rectifies non-equilibrium fluctuations by selectively suppressing backward particle sliding. These findings establish a new principle for controlling transport via engineered disorder, opening new avenues for inspiring the design of more efficient nano-robots and providing new principles for particle-separation devices.

Keywords: Non-equilibrium fluctuation; Rough potential; Transport enhancement; Brownian particle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:201:y:2025:i:p3:s0960077925013797

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2025.117366

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