Energy transduction of isothermal ratchets:: Generic aspects and specific examples close to and far from equilibrium

We study the energetics of isothermal ratchets which are driven by a chemical reaction between two states, and operate in contact with a single heat bath of constant temperature. We discuss generic aspects of energy transduction such as Onsager relations in the linear response regime as well as the efficiency and dissipation close to and far from equilibrium. In the linear response regime where the system operates reversibly, the efficiency is in general nonzero. Studying the properties for specific examples of energy landscapes and transitions, we observe in the linear response regime that the efficiency can have a maximum as a function of temperature. Far from equilibrium in the fully irreversible regime, we find a maximum of the efficiency with values larger than in the linear regime for an optimal choice of the chemical driving force. We show that the corresponding efficiencies can be of the order of 50%. A simple analytical argument allows us to estimate the efficiency in this irreversible regime for small external forces. [S1063-651X(99)01708-0].