Speaker
Description
Active fluctuations are detected in a growing number of systems due to self-propulsion mechanisms or collisions with active environment. They drive the system far from equilibrium and can induce phenomena which at equilibrium states are forbidden by e.g. fluctuation-dissipation relations and detailed balance symmetry. Recently a paradoxical effect has been briefly communicated in which a free particle transport induced by active fluctuations in the form of white Poisson shot noise can be enormously boosted when it is additionally subjected to a periodic potential. In contrast, within the realm of only thermal fluctuations the velocity of a free particle exposed to a bias is reduced when the periodic potential is switched on. Properties of active fluctuations necessary for the transport boost to occur were identified along with different enhancement regimes emerging for distinct Poisson noise amplitude statistics. The presented mechanism is significant for understanding non–equilibrium environments such as living cells where it can explain from a fundamental point of view why spatially periodic structures known as microtubules are necessary to generate impressively effective intracellular transport. Our findings can be readily corroborated experimentally e.g. in a setup comprising a colloidal particle in an optically generated periodic potential.