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Generalized relation between relative entropy and dissipation for nonequilibrium systems
Pegah Zolfaghari1, Somayeh Zare, Behrouz Mirza
1Department of Physics, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran.
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|January 15, 2011
Summary
This study generalizes the link between dissipation and time-reversal asymmetry. Researchers explored driving systems from initial to final thermal equilibrium states, demonstrating the concept with a solvable particle-in-a-well model.
Area of Science:
- Statistical Mechanics
- Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics
Background:
- Dissipation has been recently linked to time-reversal asymmetry.
- Understanding non-equilibrium processes is crucial in statistical mechanics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To generalize the relationship between dissipation and time-reversal asymmetry.
- To investigate systems driven between different thermal equilibrium states.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical generalization of existing results.
- Analysis of a physical system driven between two distinct temperatures.
- Utilizing a solvable model: a particle in a moving one-dimensional harmonic well.
Main Results:
- Established a generalized connection between dissipation and time-reversal asymmetry for systems transitioning between thermal equilibrium states.
- The derived relationship holds for systems driven across different temperatures.
- The particle-in-a-harmonic-well model provides an exact illustration of the generalized findings.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully extended the understanding of dissipation and time-reversal asymmetry.
- The findings are applicable to systems undergoing non-equilibrium processes between thermal states.
- The use of exactly solvable models is effective for validating theoretical generalizations in thermodynamics.
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