Paradoxical games and Brownian thermal engines

Abstract

Two losing games, when alternated in a periodic or random fashion, can produce a winning game. This paradox occurs in a family of stochastic processes: if one combines two or more dynamics where a given quantity decreases, the result can be a dynamic system where this quantity increases. The paradox could be applied to a number of stochastic systems and has drawn the attention of researchers from different areas. In this paper we show how the phenomenon can be used to design Brownian or molecular motors, i.e., thermal engines that operate by rectifying fluctuations. We briefly review the literature on Brownian motors, pointing out that a new thermodynamics of Brownian motors will be fundamental to the understanding of most processes of energy transduction in molecular biology.