Dynamical transitions in correlated driven diffusion in a periodic potential.pdfVIP

DYNAMICAL TRANSITIONS IN CORRELATED DRIVEN DIFFUSION IN A PERIODIC POTENTIAL. 7 9 9 1 Oleg M. BRAUN, Thierry DAUXOIS, Maxim V. PALIY, and Michel PEYRARD n a Laboratoire de Physique, URA-CNRS 1325, J 0 ENS Lyon, 46 All´ee d’Italie, 69364 Lyon C´edex 07, France 2 ] (February 1, 2008) h c e m - t Abstract a t s . t a The diffusion of a two-dimensional array of particles driven by a constant m - force in the presence of a periodic external potential exhibits a hierarchy of d n dynamical phase transitions when the driving force is varied. This behavior o c [ can be explained by a simple phenomenological approach which reduces the 1 v system of strongly interacting particles to weakly interacting quasi-particles 4 3 (kinks). The richness of the strongly coupled system is however not lost 1 1 because, contrary to a single-Brownian particle, the array shows an hysteretic 0 7 9 behavior even at non-zero temperature. The present investigation can be / t a viewed as a first step toward understanding nanotribology. m - d n o c : v i X r a Typeset using REVT X E 1 The diffusion of a Brownian particle, driven by an external force and subjected to a periodic potential, is a situation which arises in several fields of science [1] such as solid- state physics, surface physics [2],