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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Article number | 022913 |
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 22/02/2013 |
<mark>Journal</mark> | Physical Review E |
Issue number | 2 |
Volume | 87 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Publication Status | Published |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
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