Berlin 2008 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Posters I
BP 7.24: Poster
Monday, February 25, 2008, 17:00–19:30, Poster A
Optimization of a thermal Brownian Motor — •Florian Berger, Tim Schmiedl, and Udo Seifert — II. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart
Since the introduction by Feynman, thermal Brownian ratchets have served as a model for a microscopic engine in a thermal environment. Following this route, we consider the motion of an overdamped Brownian particle in a periodic potential, which is divided into two regions with different temperatures T1 and T2. Within these two thermal environments the stochastic movement of the particle is influenced by different noise. This fact can be used to obtain a net flux in one direction for a properly chosen potential. By attaching a load to the particle we construct a heat engine that operates between the two heat baths. The dependency of the flux on the potential evokes the question: What is the optimal shape of the potential that maximizes the flux and thus the power of the engine for a given load? We calculate optimal shapes of the potential for different choices of model parameters like ratio of the two temperatures, length of the two regions and load.