Entropy and Thermodynamic Second Laws: New Perspective - Stochastic Thermodynamics and Fluctuation Theorems

Abstract

Recently, there has been a considerable progress on the issue of the thermodynamic second law, which is known as the law of entropy increase or irreversibility. In particular, a novel symmetry known as the Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry is found in nonequilibrium (NEQ) fluctuations, which leads to so-called fluctuation theorems. The thermodynamic second law is a simple corollary of fluctuation theorems, from which one can predict quantitatively how often NEQ processes violate the law of entropy increase. Violations disappear in the thermodynamic limit, but can be observed reasonably well in small systems. In this article, we will briefly introduce the stochastic thermodynamics and derive various fluctuation theorems, including the total entropy production (EP), the work-free-energy relation, the excess and house-keeping EP, and the information entropy.