Collective transport in the discrete Frenkel-Kontorova model

Abstract

Through multiscale analysis of the adjoint Fokker-Planck equation, strict bounds are derived for the center of mass diffusivity of an overdamped harmonic chain in a periodic potential, often known as the discrete Frenkel-Kontorova model. Significantly, it is shown that the free energy barrier is a lower bound to the true finite temperature migration barrier for this general and popular system. Numerical simulation confirms the analysis, while effective migration potentials implied by the bounds are employed to give a surprisingly accurate prediction of the nonlinear response.