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Collective dynamics of a network of ratchets coupled via a stochastic dynamical environment

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
Article number022913
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>22/02/2013
<mark>Journal</mark>Physical Review E
Issue number2
Volume87
Number of pages7
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

We investigate the collective dynamics of a network of inertia particles diffusing in a ratchet potential and interacting indirectly through their stochastic dynamical environment. We obtain analytically the condition for the existence of a stable collective state, and we show that the number N of particles in the network, and the strength k of their interaction with the environment, play key roles in synchronization and transport processes. Synchronization is preceded by symmetry-breaking associated with double-resonance oscillations and is shown to be strongly dependent on the network size: convergence to the synchronization manifold occurs much faster with a large network. For small networks, increasing the noise level enhances synchronization in the weakly coupled regime, while particles in a large network are weakly synchronized. Similarly, in the strongly coupled regime, particles in a small network are weakly synchronized; whereas the synchronization is strong and robust against noise when the network-size is large. Small and moderate networks maximize and stabilize efficient transport. Although the dynamics for larger networks is highly correlated, the transport current is erratic. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.022913