Moments of Entropy Production in Dissipative Devices

Area of Science:

• Statistical mechanics
• Non-equilibrium thermodynamics
• Stochastic processes

Background:

• Stationary Markov processes are fundamental in modeling complex systems.
• Understanding entropy production is key to non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
• Current fluctuations in devices are often analyzed using Gaussian assumptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize possible moments of entropy production for overdamped stationary Markov processes.
• To derive a necessary condition relating second and third moments of entropy production.
• To determine all possible first, second, and third moments for white noise processes.

Main Methods:

• General formulation of entropy production moments.
• Derivation of a necessary condition for moment relationships.
• Analysis of white noise processes to determine moment distributions.

Main Results:

• A general formulation for entropy production moments was established.
• A new necessary condition linking second and third moments was derived.
• All possible first, second, and third moments for white noise processes were determined.

Conclusions:

• A lower bound for skewness of current fluctuations in dissipative devices was obtained.
• The Gaussianity assumption in electronic engineering was shown to be thermodynamically inconsistent.
• This research provides a foundation for more accurate thermodynamic modeling of electronic devices.