Reversibility, heat dissipation and the importance of the thermal environment in stochastic models of nonequilibrium steady states

TL;DR

This paper explores how irreversibility and heat dissipation in stochastic models of nonequilibrium steady states can be quantified using information theory and thermodynamics, providing insights into model accuracy and physical consistency.

Contribution

It introduces a method combining irreversibility measures with work theorems to assess the thermodynamic validity of stochastic models of nonequilibrium processes.

Findings

Irreversibility measure bounded by entropy production

Quantifies how well models reflect physical reality

Critiques existing steady-state thermodynamics approaches

Abstract

We examine stochastic processes that are used to model nonequilibrium processes (e.g, pulling RNA or dragging colloids) and so deliberately violate detailed balance. We argue that by combining an information-theoretic measure of irreversibility with nonequilibrium work theorems, the thermal physics implied by abstract dynamics can be determined. This measure is bounded above by thermodynamic entropy production and so may quantify how well a stochastic dynamics models reality. We also use our findings to critique various modeling approaches and notions arising in steady-state thermodynamics.