title: Deterministic directed transport of inertial particles in a flashing ratchet potential.
abstract: Deterministic directed transport of inertia particles in a periodically on-off ratchet potential is investigated. We find that the directed transport can be induced by a finite inertia; i.e., in the overdamped case, no directed motion of the system can be observed. It is shown that a critical threshold of the ratchet asymmetry is required for the system to achieve a net current. Directed transport can be greatly enhanced when the coupling strength of particles is increased. An appropriate match of the coupling, the flashing period, and the damping can give rise to the best efficiency of transport. The commensurate effect on the directed transport, which originates from the spatial competition between the period of the potential and the static length of the coupling, is analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qiwen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng