Universal theory of efficiency fluctuations

2014/09/11 by Gatien Verley, Tim Willaert, Christian Van den Broeck +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Economics #Environmental science #Field-Flow Fractionation Techniques #Mathematical economics #cond-mat.stat-mech #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.90.052145

published as Phys. Rev. E 90, 052145 (2014) · 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 table

arxiv created 2014/09/11 · openalex publication_date 2014/11/21 · arxiv updated 2014/11/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Using the fluctuation theorem supplemented with geometric arguments, we derive universal features of the (long-time) efficiency fluctuations for thermal and isothermal machines operating under steady or periodic driving, close or far from equilibrium. In particular, the probabilities for observing the reversible efficiency and the least likely efficiency are identical to those of the same machine working under the time-reversed driving. For time-symmetric drivings, this reversible and the least probable efficiency coincide.

Citations

• Heat Flux and Entropy Produced by Thermal Fluctuations
• Universality of Efficiency at Maximum Power
• Irreversibility on the Level of Single-Electron Tunneling
• Fluctuation Relation for Heat Engines
• Stochastic thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems and molecular machines
• Information heat engine: converting information to energy by feedback control
• The Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Small Systems
• Experimental verification of Landauer’s principle linking information and thermodynamics
• Experimental free-energy measurements of kinetic molecular states using fluctuation theorems
• Ensemble and Trajectory Thermodynamics: A Brief Introduction

Cited by

• Quantitative analysis of non-equilibrium systems from short-time experimental data
• Short-time dynamics of molecular junctions after projective measurement