Research report 2003 - Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization

Hamiltonian ratchets: propulsion by chaos

Authors
Dr. Holger Schanz
Departments

Nichtlineare Dynamik (Prof. Dr. Theo Geisel)
MPI für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation, Göttingen

Summary
In future mechanical and electronic devices, nanometer scale transport of material, energy and information will rely on novel physical principles. While the role of quantum effects will increase, dissipative processes causing unwanted heating will be reduced as much as possible. We study one particular transport mechanism, the so-called ratchet effect, in the limit of vanishing dissipation. For that purpose an analysis of the complex phase-space structure of Hamiltonian systems is necessary, in which regular and chaotic dynamics typically coexist.

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