Speaker
Prof.
Udo Seifert
(Stuttgart University)
Description
Stochastic thermodynamics provides a framework for
describing small systems embedded in a heat bath and
externally driven to non-equilibrium [1]. Examples are
colloidal particles in time-dependent optical traps, single
biomolecules manipulated by optical tweezers or AFM tips,
and motor proteins driven by ATP excess. For non-equilibrium
steady states (NESSs), total entropy production obeys a
detailed fluctuation theorem even for finite times [2]. As
an alternative to the phenomenological approach of
introducing an effective temperature in order to adjust the
equilibrium form of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem
(FDT) to a NESS, we have derived a transparent general form
of the FDT in a NESS [3]. Moreover, generalized Green-Kubo
relations hold true in NESSs under the weak assumption of
local detailed balance [4]. Finally, this formalism allows
to discuss the efficiency of autonomous soft nano-machines
[5]. Where available, these theoretical results will be
illustrated using data from experimental model systems.
[1] U.S., Eur. Phys. J. B, 64, 423, 2008.
[2] U.S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 040602, 2005.
[3] U.S. and T. Speck, EPL 89, 10007, 2010.
[4] U.S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 138101, 2010.
[5] U.S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 020601, 2011.
Primary author
Prof.
Udo Seifert
(Stuttgart University)
