We analyze a model for a walker moving on an asymmetric periodic ratchet potential. This model is motivated by the properties of transport of the motor protein kinesin. The walker consists of two feet represented as two particles coupled nonlinearly through a double-well bistable potential. In contrast to linear coupling, the bistable potential admits a richer dynamics where the ordering of the particles can alternate during the walking. The transitions between the two stable points on the bistable potential, correspond to a walking with alternating particles. In our model, each particle is acted upon by independent white noises, modeling thermal noise, and additionally we have an external time-dependent force that drives the system out of equilibrium, allowing directed transport. In the equilibrium case, where only white noise is present, we perform a bifurcation analysis which reveals different walking patterns. In particular, we distinguish between two main walking styles: alternating and no alternating. These two ways of walking resemble the hand-over-hand and the inchworm walking in kinesin, respectively. Numerical simulations showed the existence of current reversals and significant changes in the effective diffusion constant. We obtained an optimal coherent transport, characterized by a maximum dimensionless ratio of the current and the effective diffusion (Péclet number), when the periodicity of the ratchet potential coincides with the equilibrium distance between the two particles.
Transient superdiffusive motion on a disordered ratchet potential
