3D Brownian motor in an optical lattice

What is it about?

We have a setup where we rectify isotropic noise and convert it to controlled work. Atoms are trapped in a combination of two 3D symmetric optical lattices, and are randomly transfered back and forth between the two. By having unequal transfer probabilities between the two lattices, and by offsetting them spatially, we can convert fluctuation caused by random light scattering into controlled motion, in any direction.

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Why is it important?

To rectify noise, one has to circumvent the second law of thermodynamics, and the Curie principle. This is usually done with ratchets, which includes some kind of sawtooth potential, or a rocked potential; which is difficult in more than 1D. Our solution is special in the sense that the potentials we use are symmetric, and nothing is flashed. Linking temporal transfer with spatial phase gives us spatio-temporal asymmetry, even though the setup is both spatially and temporally symmetric.