Current inversion in a periodically driven two-dimensional Brownian ratchet

Abstract

It is well-known that Brownian ratchets can exhibit current reversals, wherein the sign of the current switches as a function of the driving frequency. We introduce a spatial discretization of such a two-dimensional Brownian ratchet to enable spectral methods that efficiently compute those currents. These discrete-space models provide a convenient way to study the Markovian dynamics conditioned upon generating particular values of the currents. By studying such conditioned processes, we demonstrate that low-frequency negative values of current arise from typical events and high-frequency positive values of current arises from rare events. We demonstrate how these observations can inform the sculpting of time-dependent potential landscapes with a specific frequency response.