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arXiv · 1409.0498

Work Relations Connecting Nonequilibrium Steady States Without Detailed Balance

Ying Tang·Ruoshi Yuan·Jianhong Chen·Ping Ao
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Abstract

Bridging equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical physics attracts sustained interest. Hallmarks of nonequilibrium systems include a breakdown of detailed balance, and an absence of a priori potential function corresponding to the Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution, without which classical equilibrium thermodynamical quantities could not be defined. Here, we construct dynamically the potential function through decomposing the system into a dissipative part and a conservative part, and develop a nonequilibrium theory by defining thermodynamical quantities based on the potential function. Concepts for equilibrium can thus be naturally extended to nonequilibrium steady state. We elucidate this procedure explicitly in a class of time-dependent linear diffusive systems without mathematical ambiguity. We further obtain the exact work distribution for an arbitrary control parameter, and work equalities connecting nonequilibrium steady states. Our results provide a direct generalization on Jarzynski equality and Crooks fluctuation theorem to systems without detailed balance.

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Ying Tang, Ruoshi Yuan, Jianhong Chen, Ping Ao. 2014-09-01. Work Relations Connecting Nonequilibrium Steady States Without Detailed Balance. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.91.042108

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