Main Page
About the Journal
Subscription information

Current Issue
Tables of Contents
Author Index
Search

Authors
Referees

Thermal ratchet effect in ferrofluids

A. Engel

Institute for Physics, University of Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany

Abstract
The extraction of directed motion from random fluctuations is an old and controversial problem in statistical mechanics with a long and interesting history . Although excluded by the second law of thermodynamics for equilibrium systems, rectification of fluctuations is possible in systems driven sufficiently far away from thermal equilibrium . The problem has gained renewed attention under the trademarks of ``thermal ratchets'' and ``Brownian motors'' due to its possible relevance for biological transport and the prospects of nano-technology. Figs 2, Refs 17.

Magnetohydrodynamics 41, No. 4, 325-332, 2005 [PDF, 0.20 Mb]

Copyright: Institute of Physics, University of Latvia
Electronic edition ISSN 1574-0579
Printed edition ISSN 0024-998X
DOI: http://doi.org/10.22364/mhd