Flashing Brownian Ratchet

Asymmetric sawtooth potential switches on/off — net drift from thermal noise alone

Mean velocity: Potential: ON Particles: 20 Time: 0
About: The flashing Brownian ratchet resolves Feynman's ratchet paradox: an asymmetric sawtooth potential V(x) periodically switches on and off. When ON, particles are trapped near minima; when OFF, particles diffuse freely. The spatial asymmetry (short steep slope, long gentle slope) means diffusion is biased — more particles drift "uphill" than down, creating net transport without violating thermodynamics.