Current reversals in a rocking ratchet: the frequency domain

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2011 Aug;84(2 Pt 1):021127. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.021127. Epub 2011 Aug 18.

Abstract

Motivated by recent work [D. Cubero et al., Phys. Rev. E 82, 041116 (2010)], we examine the mechanisms which determine current reversals in rocking ratchets as observed when varying the frequency of the drive. We found that a class of these current reversals in the frequency domain is precisely determined by dissipation-induced symmetry breaking. Our experimental and theoretical work thus extends and generalizes the previously identified relationship between dynamical and symmetry-breaking mechanisms in the generation of current reversals.