Fluctuation relations in a nonequilibrium system: Surface tension and effective temperature in an Ising-doped voter...

Fluctuation relations of Jarzynski and Crooks enable efficient calculations of a free-energy difference between equilibrium states. In the present paper, we provide some numerical evidence that these relations can also be used for a two-dimensional Ising-doped voter model, which is a nonequilibrium system with a violated detailed balance. Adopting the method of Híjar and Sutmann, we implement a protocol that switches between periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions and induces formation of an interface in the model. Assuming that a suitably interpreted Ising Hamiltonian can be considered as a pseudoenergy of the model, we examine fluctuations of work performed during these processes and estimate the surface tension. Our results confirm that the surface tension remains positive in this model except a limiting case of the voter model, where it seems to vanish. Comparing the free-energy estimates at different speeds of the switching process, we also estimate an effective temperature in the model. Perhaps coincidentally, the effective temperature of the voter model appears to be close to the critical temperature of the Ising model.