Fluctuation Induced Forces in Non-equilibrium (Diffusive) Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates fluctuation-induced forces between parallel slabs in non-equilibrium diffusive systems, revealing a universal decay with separation and non-universal amplitude depending on dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute fluctuation-induced forces in non-equilibrium steady states, extending understanding beyond equilibrium Casimir effects.

Findings

Force decays as $k_B T/d$ with separation $d$

Force can be attractive or repulsive

Amplitude depends on system dynamics

Abstract

Thermal fluctuations in non-equilibrium steady states generically lead to power law decay of correlations for conserved quantities. Embedded bodies which constrain fluctuations in turn experience fluctuation induced forces. We compute these forces for the simple case of parallel slabs in a driven diffusive system. The force falls off with slab separation $d$ as $k_B T/d$ (at temperature $T$, and in all spatial dimensions), but can be attractive or repulsive. Unlike the equilibrium Casimir force, the force amplitude is non-universal and explicitly depends on dynamics. The techniques introduced can be generalized to study pressure and fluctuation induced forces in a broad class of non-equilibrium systems.