Effective temperatures in a simple model of non-equilibrium, non-Markovian dynamics

Abstract

The concept of effective temperatures in nonequilibrium systems is studied within an exactly solvable model of non-Markovian diffusion. The system is coupled to two heat baths which are kept at different temperatures: one (‘fast’) bath associated with an uncorrelated Gaussian noise and a second ('slow') bath with an exponential memory kernel. Various definitions of effective temperatures proposed in the literature are evaluated and compared. The range of validity of these definitions is discussed. It is shown in particular, that the effective temperature defined from the fluctuation-dissipation relation mirrors the temperature of the slow bath in parameter regions corresponding to a separation of time scales. On the contrary, quasi-static and thermodynamic definitions of an effective temperature are found to display the temperature of the fast bath in most parameter regions.