Pendulum as a model system for driven rotation in molecular nanoscale machines

A. V. Zolotaryuk, P. L. Christiansen, B. Nordén, A. V. Savin, and Y. Zolotaryuk
Phys. Rev. E 61, 3256 – Published 1 March 2000
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Abstract

We suggest a ratchet mechanism of rotatory (or translatory) motion of a Brownian rotator (or a particle) in a spatially symmetric periodic potential. The asymmetry that drives the ratchet motion is due to a special sequence of activation of catalytic sites arranged in space circularly and periodically. A pendulum driven by short impulses at its stable equilibrium point is shown to be a simple mechanical model which can be constructed easily and used for visual observation of the ratchet rotation. A possible application of this mechanism in nanotechnology is briefly discussed.

  • Received 8 July 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.61.3256

©2000 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. V. Zolotaryuk1,2, P. L. Christiansen1, B. Nordén3, A. V. Savin1,4, and Y. Zolotaryuk1,*

  • 1Department of Mathematical Modelling, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
  • 2Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 03143 Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 3Department of Physical Chemistry, Chalmers University of Technology, S-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 4Institute for Problems of Physics and Technology, 119034 Moscow, Russia

  • *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Present address: Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: yzolo@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de

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Vol. 61, Iss. 3 — March 2000

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