2022/04/01 by Patrick Pietzonka · 1 voice · 4 citations
Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Neural dynamics and brain function #Quantum Mechanics and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.128.130606
openalex publication_date 2022/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The thermodynamic uncertainty relation expresses a seemingly universal trade-off between the cost for driving an autonomous system and precision in any output observable. It has so far been proven for discrete systems and for overdamped Brownian motion. Its validity for the more general class of underdamped Brownian motion, where inertia is relevant, was conjectured based on numerical evidence. We now disprove this conjecture by constructing a counterexample. Its design is inspired by a classical pendulum clock, which uses an escapement to couple the motion of an oscillator to regulate the motion of another degree of freedom (a "hand") driven by an external force. Considering a thermodynamically consistent, discrete model for an escapement mechanism, we first show that the oscillations of an underdamped harmonic oscillator in thermal equilibrium are sufficient to break the thermodynamic uncertainty relation. We then show that this is also the case in simulations of a fully continuous underdamped system with a potential landscape that mimics an escaped pendulum.