Single-file transport in periodic potentials: The Brownian ASEP

Abstract

Single-file Brownian motion in periodic structures is an important process in nature and technology, which becomes increasingly amenable for experimental investigation under controlled conditions. To explore and understand basic features of this motion, the Brownian asymmetric simple exclusion process (BASEP) was recently introduced. In this BASEP, hard rods are driven by a constant drag force through a periodic potential with an amplitude much larger than the thermal energy. Here we derive general properties of the collective dynamics in the BASEP, discuss its connection to single-file transport by traveling wave potentials, and give a complete description of currents in steady states for all particle densities and diameters. For the open BASEP coupled to particle reservoirs, the nonequilibrium phases predicted by extremal current principles are verified by Brownian dynamics simulations.