Giant diffusion and coherent transport in tilted periodic inhomogeneous systems

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of an overdamped Brownian particle moving in a washboard potential with space dependent friction coefficient. Analytical expressions have been obtained for current and diffusion coefficient. We show that the effective diffusion coefficient can be enhanced or suppressed compared to that of the uniform friction case. The diffusion coefficient is maximum near the critical threshold (F_c), which is sensitive to temperature and the frictional profile. In some parameter regime, we observe that increase in noise (temperature) decreases the diffusion, which is counterintuitive. This leads to coherent transport with large mean velocity accompanied by small diffusion. This is shown explicitly by analysis of Peclet number, which has been introduced to study coherent or optimal transport. This phenomenon is complementary to giant diffusion.