2014/03/05 by A. V. Ivlev, J. Bartnick, M. Heinen +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.stat-mech #cond-mat.soft #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevx.5.011035
published as Phys. Rev. X 5, 011035 (2015)
arxiv created 2014/03/05 · arxiv updated 2015/10/09
A basic statistical mechanics analysis of many-body systems with non-reciprocal pair interactions is presented. Different non-reciprocity classes in two- and three-dimensional binary systems (relevant to real experimental situations) are investigated, where the action-reaction symmetry is broken for the interaction between different species. The asymmetry is characterized by a non-reciprocity parameter Δ, which is the ratio of the non-reciprocal to reciprocal pair forces. It is shown that for the "constant" non-reciprocity (when Δ is independent of the interparticle distance r) one can construct a pseudo-Hamiltonian and such systems, being intrinsically non-equilibrium, can nevertheless be described in terms of equilibrium statistical mechanics and exhibit detailed balance with distinct temperatures for the different species. For a general case (when Δ is a function of r) the temperatures grow with time, approaching a universal power-law scaling, while their ratio is determined by an effective constant non-reciprocity which is uniquely defined for a given interaction.