Rigidity generation by nonthermal fluctuations.

Sheshka, R; Recho, P; Truskinovsky, L · Phys Rev E · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Active stabilization in systems with zero or negative stiffness is an essential element of a wide variety of biological processes. We study a prototypical example of this phenomenon and show how active rigidity, interpreted as a formation of a pseudowell in the effective energy landscape, can be generated in an overdamped stochastic system. We link the transition from negative to positive rigidity with time correlations in the additive noise, and we show that subtle differences in the out-of-equilibrium driving may compromise the emergence of a pseudowell.