Related papers: Mechanochemical Active Ratchet
Various microorganisms and some mammalian cells are able to swim in viscous fluids by performing nonreciprocal body deformations, such as rotating attached flagella or by distorting their entire body. In order to perform chemotaxis, i.e. to…
We study the rectified transport of underdamped active noninteracting particles in an asymmetric periodic potential. It is found that the ratchet effect of active noninteracting particles occurs in a single direction (along the easy…
Active particles locally transduce energy into motion, leading to unusual and emergent behaviors. However, current synthetic particles lack sensing and adaptation mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate a novel regulation pathway, through the…
Catalytically active macromolecules are envisioned as key building blocks in development of artificial nanomotors. However, theory and experiments report conflicting findings regarding their dynamics. The lack of consensus is mostly caused…
The recent discovery that electrons in nano-scale conductors can act like a highly viscous liquid has triggered a surge of research activities investigating consequences of this surprising fact. Here we demonstrate that the electronic…
Autonomous active Brownian ratchets rectify active Brownian particle motion solely by means of a spatially modulated but stationary activity, without external forces. We argue that such ratcheting requires at least a two-dimensional…
Molecular dynamics simulations of dense and rarefied fluids comprising small chain molecules in chemically patterned nano-channels predict a novel switching from Poiseuille to plug flow along the channel. We also demonstrate behavior akin…
The performance of nanoscale magnetic devices is often limited by the presence of thermal fluctuations, while in micro-nanofluidic applications the same fluctuations may be used to spread reactants or drugs. Here we demonstrate the…
Microscopic active droplets are able to swim autonomously in viscous flows: this puzzling feature stems from solute exchanges with the surrounding fluid via surface reactions or their spontaneous solubilisation, and the interfacial flows…
When particles suspended in a fluid are driven through a regular lattice of cylindrical obstacles, the particle motion is usually not simply in the direction of the force, and in the high Peclet number limit particle trajectories tend to…
Self-organized collective behaviour of active units is inspiring new designs of artificial swarms of micron-sized objects. However, active control at the nanoscale remains elusive. We have accurately solved the collective optofluidic…
Run-and-Tumble particles, mimicking the behaviour of microorganisms like E. coli, are a paradigmatic model of active matter. Due to self-propulsion, their random and undirected motion can be rectified in a ratchet potential. Using…
Brownian transport of self-propelled overdamped microswimmers (like Janus particles) in a two-dimensional periodically compartmentalized channel is numerically investigated for different compartment geometries, boundary collisional…
Motile microorganisms, like bacteria and algae, unify abilities like self-propulsion, autonomous navigation, and decision-making on the micron scale. While recent breakthroughs have led to the creation of synthetic microswimmers and…
We investigate the dynamics of nanoscale droplets in the vicinity of chemical steps which separate parts of a substrate with different wettabilities. Due to long-ranged dispersion forces, nanodroplets positioned on one side of the step…
We analyse a continuous-time random walk model with stochastic reversals of direction. There is no external potential but the reorientation mechanism generates a non-zero current from asymmetry in the forward and backward waiting-time…
Self-propelled particles accumulate on repulsive barriers in so-called active wetting, but the relationship between this process and equilibrium wetting remains unclear. Using an exact (noiseless) hydrodynamic framework for an active…
We explore the properties of run-and-tumble particles moving in a piecewise-linear "ratchet" potential by deriving analytic results for the system's steady-state probability density, current, entropy production rate, extractable power, and…
Physics of self-propelled objects at the nanoscale is a rapidly developing research field where recent experiments focused on motion of individual catalytic enzymes. Contrary to the experimental advancements, theoretical understanding of…
We experimentally investigate the phenomenon of a quantum ratchet created by exposing a Bose-Einstein Condensate to short pulses of a potential which is periodic in both space and time. Such a ratchet is manifested by a directed current of…