Transport by bi-harmonic drives: from harmonic to vibrational mixing

J Phys Condens Matter. 2005 Nov 30;17(47):S3709-18. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/17/47/005. Epub 2005 Nov 4.

Abstract

Transport in a one-dimensional symmetric device can be activated by the combination of thermal noise and a bi-harmonic drive. The results of extensive simulations allow us to distinguish between two apparently different bi-harmonic regimes: (i) harmonic mixing, where the two drive frequencies are commensurate but not too high; (ii) vibrational mixing, where one harmonic drive component possesses a high frequency but finite amplitude-to-frequency ratio. A comparison with the earlier theoretical predictions shows that at present the analytical understanding of nonlinear frequency mixing is still not satisfactory.