Collective Directional Transport of Coupled Oscillators in Symmetric Periodic Potentials

Abstract

Collective directional transport of particles in symmetric periodic potentials is studied. An example is given to reveal the directed motion of a single particle in a symmetric periodic potential and subject to an asymmetric ac force with zero mean. It is then shown that the asymmetric coupling can give rise to a directed transport. The transport failure (pinning of the lattice) is related to the phase delocalization (crisis) in the circle map. For symmetric couplings, it is found that a train of plane wave can also lead to a directed transport. The mode-locking steps of the transport velocity is found and analyzed. The collective transport can be well optimized by adjusting parameters in the system.