Dissipative timescales from coarse-graining irreversibility

Abstract

We propose and investigate a method for identifying timescales of dissipation in nonequilibrium steady states modeled as discrete-state Markov jump processes. The method is based on how the irreversibility—measured by the statistical breaking of time-reversal symmetry—varies under temporal coarse-graining. We observe a sigmoidal-like shape of the irreversibility as a function of the coarse-graining time whose functional form we derive for systems with a fast driven transition. This theoretical prediction allows us to develop a method for estimating the dissipative time scale from time-series data by fitting estimates of the irreversibility to our predicted functional form. We further analyze the accuracy and statistical fluctuations of this estimate.