skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Potential and flux decomposition for dynamical systems and non-equilibrium thermodynamics: Curvature, gauge field, and generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3669448· OSTI ID:22038810
 [1];  [1]
  1. Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794 (United States)

The driving force of the dynamical system can be decomposed into the gradient of a potential landscape and curl flux (current). The fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) is often applied to near equilibrium systems with detailed balance. The response due to a small perturbation can be expressed by a spontaneous fluctuation. For non-equilibrium systems, we derived a generalized FDT that the response function is composed of two parts: (1) a spontaneous correlation representing the relaxation which is present in the near equilibrium systems with detailed balance and (2) a correlation related to the persistence of the curl flux in steady state, which is also in part linked to a internal curvature of a gauge field. The generalized FDT is also related to the fluctuation theorem. In the equal time limit, the generalized FDT naturally leads to non-equilibrium thermodynamics where the entropy production rate can be decomposed into spontaneous relaxation driven by gradient force and house keeping contribution driven by the non-zero flux that sustains the non-equilibrium environment and breaks the detailed balance. On any particular path, the medium heat dissipation due to the non-zero curl flux is analogous to the Wilson lines of an Abelian gauge theory.

OSTI ID:
22038810
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 135, Issue 23; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English