Transports in a rough ratchet induced by Lévy noises

We study the transport of a particle subjected to a Lévy noise in a rough ratchet potential which is constructed by superimposing a fast oscillating trigonometric function on a common ratchet background. Due to the superposition of roughness, the transport process exhibits significantly different properties under the excitation of Lévy noises compared to smooth cases. The influence of the roughness on the directional motion is explored by calculating the mean velocities with respect to the Lévy stable index α and the spatial asymmetry parameter q of the ratchet. Variations in the splitting probability have been analyzed to illustrate how roughness affects the transport. In addition, we have examined the influences of roughness on the mean first passage time to know when it accelerates or slows down the first passage process. We find that the roughness can lead to a fast reduction of the absolute value of the mean velocity for small α, however the influence is small for large α. We have illustrated that the ladder-like roughness on the potential wall increases the possibility for particles to cross the gentle side of the ratchet, which results in an increase of the splitting probability to right for the right-skewed ratchet potential. Although the roughness increases the corresponding probability, it does not accelerate the mean first passage process to the right adjacent well. Our results show that the influences of roughness on the mean first passage time are sensitive to the combination of q and α. Hence, the proper q and α can speed up the passage process, otherwise it will slow down it.