Low-temperature quantum fluctuations in overdamped ratchets.
At low temperatures and strong friction the time evolution of the density distribution in position follows a quantum Smoluchowski equation. Recently, also higher-order contributions of quantum fluctuations to drift and diffusion coefficients have been systematically derived. As a nontrivial situation to reveal the impact of subleading quantum corrections and to demonstrate convergence properties of the perturbation series, directed transport in ratchets is studied. It is shown that the perturbation series typically has a nonmonotonous behavior. Depending on symmetry properties higher-order contributions may even compensate current reversals induced by leading quantum fluctuations. This analysis demonstrates how to consistently treat the dynamics of overdamped quantum systems at low temperatures also in numerical applications.
Maier
Stefan A
SA
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Ulm, Germany.
Ankerhold
Joachim
J