2007/03/31 by Francisco J. Cao, F. J. Cao, M. Feito +2 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Gene Regulatory Network Analysis #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.stat-mech #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.physa.2008.10.006
published as Physica A 388, 113 (2009) · LaTeX, 13 pages, 2 figures
openalex publication_date 2008/10/14 · arxiv created 2008/11/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study a feedback control version of the flashing Brownian ratchet, in which the application of the flashing potential depends on the state of the particles to be controlled. Taking the view that the ratchet acts as a Maxwell's demon, we study the relationship that exists between the performance of the demon as a rectifier of random motion and the amount of information gathered by the demon through measurements. In the context of a simple measurement model, we derive analytic expressions for the flux induced by the feedback ratchet when acting on one particle and a few particles, and compare these results with those obtained with its open-loop version, which operates without information. Our main finding is that the flux in the feedback case has an upper bound proportional to the square-root of the information. Our results provide a quantitative analysis of the value of information in feedback ratchets, as well as an effective description of imperfect or noisy feedback ratchets that are relevant for experimental applications.