IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/phsmap/v389y2010i20p4406-4417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics at the microscale: Work relations and the second law

Author

Listed:
  • Boksenbojm, Eliran
  • Wynants, Bram
  • Jarzynski, Christopher

Abstract

For macroscopic systems, the second law of thermodynamics establishes an inequality between the amount of work performed on a system in contact with a thermal reservoir, and the change in its free energy. For microscopic systems, this result must be considered statistically, as fluctuations around average behavior become substantial. In recent years it has become recognized that these fluctuations satisfy a number of strong and unexpected relations, which remain valid even when the system is driven far from equilibrium. We discuss these relations, and consider what they reveal about the second law of thermodynamics and the nature of irreversibility at the microscale.

Suggested Citation

  • Boksenbojm, Eliran & Wynants, Bram & Jarzynski, Christopher, 2010. "Nonequilibrium thermodynamics at the microscale: Work relations and the second law," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(20), pages 4406-4417.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:389:y:2010:i:20:p:4406-4417
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2010.01.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437110000087
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.physa.2010.01.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:389:y:2010:i:20:p:4406-4417. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/physica-a-statistical-mechpplications/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.