2025/03/24 by Aishani Ghosal, Jason R. Green · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · Neuroscience · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Neural dynamics and brain function #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
paper · doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.7.l012078
openalex publication_date 2025/03/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Active matter and driven systems exhibit statistical fluctuations in density and particle positions that are an indirect indicator of dissipation across length and time scales. Here, we quantitatively relate these fluctuations to a thermodynamic speed limit that constrains the rates of heat and entropy production in nonequilibrium processes. By reparametrizing the speed limit set by the Fisher information, we show how to infer these dissipation rates from directly observable or controllable quantities. This approach can use available experimental data as input and avoid the need for analytically solvable microscopic models or full time-dependent probability distributions. The heat rate we predict agrees with experimental measurements for a pulled Brownian particle and a microtubule active gel, which validates the approach and suggests potential for the design of experiments.