Condensed Matter Physics, 2017, vol. 20, No. 3, 33002
DOI:10.5488/CMP.20.33002           arXiv:1705.02820

Title: Activity induced first order transition for the current in a disordered medium
Author(s):
  T. Demaerel (Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, KU Leuven, Belgium) ,
  C. Maes (Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, KU Leuven, Belgium)

It is well known that particles can get trapped by randomly placed obstacles when they are pushed too much. We present a model where the current in a disordered medium dies at a large external field, but is reborn when the activity is increased. By activity we mean the time-variation of the external driving at a constant time-averaged field. A different interpretation of the resurgence of the current is that the particles are capable of taking an infinite sequence of potential barriers via a mechanism similar to stochastic resonance. We add a discussion regarding the role of "shaking" in processes of relaxation.

Key words: random media, nonequilibrium first order transition
PACS: 05.40.-a 05.60.-k


Full text [pdf] << List of papers