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Realization of nonequilibrium thermodynamic processes using external colored noise.

Pau Mestres1, Ignacio A Martinez1, Antonio Ortiz-Ambriz2

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Researchers show that work fluctuations in driven microparticles obey a key theorem when noise and sampling frequencies are optimized. This finding is crucial for understanding nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.

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Area of Science:

  • Statistical Mechanics
  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Nonlinear Dynamics

Background:

  • Understanding the behavior of microparticles driven out of equilibrium is crucial in statistical mechanics.
  • External noise sources significantly influence the dynamics and effective temperature of microscale systems.
  • The Crooks fluctuation theorem provides a fundamental link between equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the dynamics of a single microparticle in water under external colored noise.
  • To determine if the work done on the particle obeys the Crooks fluctuation theorem in a nonequilibrium system.
  • To explore the role of noise intensity and frequency on particle dynamics and effective temperature.

Main Methods:

  • Trapping a single polystyrene microparticle using optical tweezers in water.
  • Applying an external electric field with a finite bandwidth (kHz range) as colored noise.
  • Conducting two distinct nonequilibrium experiments to measure particle position and work done.
  • Carefully selecting sampling and noise cutoff frequencies for accurate measurements.

Main Results:

  • The intensity of the external noise was shown to control the amplitude of particle position fluctuations and effective temperature.
  • Fluctuations of the work done on the microparticle were observed to obey the Crooks fluctuation theorem.
  • Successful validation of the theorem was achieved under specific conditions of sampling and noise cutoff frequencies.

Conclusions:

  • The study demonstrates the applicability of the Crooks fluctuation theorem to a driven microparticle system under specific experimental conditions.
  • Proper selection of experimental parameters, particularly frequencies, is essential for observing equilibrium-like behavior in nonequilibrium systems.
  • This research provides experimental validation for theoretical predictions in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics involving fluctuating work.