Foundations and Applications of Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics

Microreversibility, current fluctuations, and nonlinear responses in nonequilibrium systems

28 Sept 2011, 10:45

45m

132:028 (Nordita)

Speaker

Prof. Pierre Gaspard (Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems, Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Description

The microreversibility of Newton's equations does not preclude that phase-space trajectories may be physically distinct from their time reversals. In statistical mechanics, a trajectory and its time reversal can thus have different probability weights, which breaks the time-reversal symmetry in the statistical description of nonequilibrium processes. This fundamental observation shows that microreversibility is compatible with the thermodynamic time asymmetry, allowing us to understand how directionality and dynamical order can be induced out of equilibrium. In this perspective, a fluctuation theorem for several coupled currents have been established thanks to network theory and new relationships between the fluctuation and response properties have been found, which are valid beyond the linear regime. References: • P. Gaspard, Time-Reversed Dynamical Entropy and Irreversibility in Markovian Random Processes, J. Stat. Phys. 117 (2004) 599-615. • D. Andrieux, P. Gaspard, S. Ciliberto, N. Garnier, S. Joubaud, and A. Petrosyan, Entropy Production and Time Asymmetry in Nonequilibrium Fluctuations, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 (2007) 150601. • D. Andrieux, P. Gaspard, S. Ciliberto, N. Garnier, S. Joubaud, and A. Petrosyan, Thermodynamic time asymmetry in non-equilibrium fluctuations, J. Stat. Mech.: Th. & Exp. (2008) P01002. • D. Andrieux and P. Gaspard, Fluctuation theorem and Onsager reciprocity relations, J. Chem. Phys. 121 (2004) 6167. • D. Andrieux and P. Gaspard, Fluctuation theorem for transport in mesoscopic systems, J. Stat. Mech. (2006) P01011. • D. Andrieux and P. Gaspard, Fluctuation theorem for currents and Schnakenberg Network Theory, J. Stat. Phys. 127 (2007) 107. • D. Andrieux and P. Gaspard, A fluctuation theorem for currents and non-linear response coefficients, J. Stat. Mech. (2007) P02006. • D. Andrieux, P. Gaspard, T. Monnai, and S. Tasaki, The fluctuation theorem for currents in open quantum systems, New J. Phys. 11 (2009) 043014.