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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Work producing reservoirs: Stochastic thermodynamics with generalized Gibbs ensembles
Jordan M Horowitz1, Massimiliano Esposito2
1Department of Physics, Physics of Living Systems Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
We develop a consistent stochastic thermodynamics for environments composed of thermodynamic reservoirs in an external conservative force field, that is, environments described by the generalized or Gibbs canonical ensemble. We demonstrate that small systems weakly coupled to such reservoirs exchange both heat and work by verifying a local detailed balance relation for the induced stochastic dynamics. Based on this analysis, we help to rationalize the observation that nonthermal reservoirs can increase the efficiency of thermodynamic heat engines.
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