Noise assisted directed motion at the molecular level - 1

Abstract

Noise affects most of the activities. The term noise is used to describe fluctuations about the mean deterministic stationary value of a physical quantity. Noise is generally associated, for example, with inaccuracies in measurements or impurities in signals such as musical notes and hence is undesirable. However, its essential role in physical processes was pointed out in the beginning the last century by Smoluchowski and others. It is only in the last two decades or so that the positive (active) aspects of its role has come to light and is being subjected to intense scrutiny. It is now being increasingly realised that noise is an important ingredient to bring order in dynamical processes. Though it appears counterintuitive, noise seems to help in directing transport processes in biological systems at the molecular level.