Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Measuring Microbial Mutation Rates with the Fluctuation Assay
Published on: November 28, 2019
Fluctuation ratios in the absence of microscopic time reversibility
Sven Dorosz1, Michel Pleimling
1Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Viriginia 24061-0435, USA.
Abstract:
We study fluctuations in diffusion-limited reaction systems driven out of their stationary state. Using a numerically exact method, we investigate fluctuation ratios in various systems which differ by their level of violation of microscopic time reversibility. Studying a quantity that for an equilibrium system is related to the work done to the system, we observe that under certain conditions oscillations appear on top of an exponential behavior of transient fluctuation ratios. We argue that these oscillations encode properties of the probability currents in state space.
Related Concept Videos
Entropy Change in Reversible Processes
The statement can be further generalized to prove that entropy is a state function. Take a cyclic process between any two points on a p-V diagram.
Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
Limits with Oscillating Discontinuities
Reversible or Opposing Reactions
Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...
Classification of Systems-II

