Abstract:
Inertial corrections to the drift velocity of a Brownian particle have been calculated for two main classes of Brownian ratchets operating in the adiabatic regime of fluctuations of the potential energy: first, the stationary periodic potential and dichotomic fluctuations of an external force with zero average value (rocking ratchet) and, second, dichotomic fluctuations of the periodic potential itself. It has been shown that, in contrast to passive transport at which the inertial correction always reduces the effective mobility and diffusion coefficients, inertial corrections for Brownian ratchets can play a constructive role, increasing the drift velocity at least at high temperatures.