Conservation Laws shape Dissipation

TL;DR

This paper develops a framework in stochastic thermodynamics to distinguish between conservative and nonconservative contributions to entropy production, providing insights into dissipation and fluctuation theorems in nonequilibrium systems.

Contribution

It introduces a method to identify conserved quantities and minimal nonconservative fluxes, extending generalized Gibbs ensemble theory to nonequilibrium thermodynamics.

Findings

Finite-time detailed fluctuation theorem for entropy contributions

Decomposition of entropy production into conservative and nonconservative parts

Framework applicable to systems with multiple reservoirs

Abstract

Starting from the most general formulation of stochastic thermodynamics---i.e. a thermodynamically consistent nonautonomous stochastic dynamics describing systems in contact with several reservoirs---, we define a procedure to identify the conservative and the minimal set of nonconservative contributions in the entropy production. The former is expressed as the difference between changes caused by time-dependent drivings and a generalized potential difference. The latter is a sum over the minimal set of flux--force contributions controlling the dissipative flows across the system. When the system is initially prepared at equilibrium (e.g. by turning off drivings and forces), a finite-time detailed fluctuation theorem holds for the different contributions. Our approach relies on identifying the complete set of conserved quantities and can be viewed as the extension of the theory of generalized Gibbs ensembles to nonequilibrium situations.