Abstract
Uncovering new mechanisms for rectification of stochastic fluctuations has been a longstanding problem in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Here, using a model parity violating metamaterial that is allowed to interact with a bath of active energy consuming particles, we uncover new mechanisms for rectification of energy and motion. Our model active metamaterial can generate energy flows through an object in the absence of any temperature gradient. The nonreciprocal microscopic fluctuations responsible for generating the energy flows can further be used to power locomotion in, or exert forces on, a viscous fluid. Taken together, our analytical and numerical results elucidate how the geometry and inter-particle interactions of the parity violating material can couple with the non-equilibrium fluctuations of an active bath and enable rectification of energy and motion.
Highlights
Identifying mechanisms that rectify stochastic fluctuations is a long-standing problem in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, with many biological, chemical, and physical applications [1,2,3,4,5]
Substantial advances have been made in understanding the rectification of motion from unbiased nonequilibrium fluctuations along with spatial or temporal symmetry breaking [4,11,12]
Using numerical calculations and simulations, we reveal the presence of net energy fluxes at the nonequilibrium steady state, whose origin we study analytically
Summary
Identifying mechanisms that rectify stochastic fluctuations is a long-standing problem in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, with many biological, chemical, and physical applications [1,2,3,4,5]. We exploit an opportunity provided by the combination of parity-violating metamaterials and nonequilibrium fluctuations to uncover new many-body principles for energy rectification. Compactly represented as a diagrammatic expansion for the energy fluxes, show how nonequilibrium metamaterials with parityviolating dynamics are able to rectify energy and motion when allowed to interact with a bath of active particles. Our energy flow does not require a temperature gradient This flux can be routed through an otherwise isolated passive object, with the active network acting as a current source. Our results establish a new mechanism for rectification of energy and motion in nonequilibrium parity-violating metamaterials. Our mechanism exploits inherent asymmetries in the nonequilibrium fluctuations of the active bath, parity-violating dynamics, and network geometry to achieve rectification. VI and VII, we show that when the particles transmitting the energy flux are allowed to interact with a viscous low Reynolds number fluid, the nonreciprocal motions responsible for the energy flux can be utilized to pump the viscous fluid
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
