Enslaving random fluctuations in nonequilibrium systems

Several physical models have recently been proposed to obtain unidirectional motion of an overdamped Brownian particle in a periodic system. The asymmetric ratchetlike form of the periodic potential and the presence of correlated nonequilibrium fluctuating forces are considered essential to obtain such a macroscopic motion in homogeneous systems. In the present work, instead, inhomogeneous systems are considered, wherein the friction coefficient and/or temperature could vary in space. We show that unidirectional motion can be obtained even in a symmetric nonratchetlike periodic potential system in the presence of white noise fluctuations. We consider four different cases of system inhomogeneity. We argue that all these different models work under the same basic principle of alteration of relative stability of otherwise locally stable states in the presence of temperature inhomogeneity.