Kibble-Zurek scaling of the irreversible entropy production

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the irreversible entropy production during finite-rate phase transitions follows a universal scaling law governed by a critical exponent, extending the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.

Contribution

It introduces a universal scaling law for entropy production in phase transitions, incorporating an additional critical exponent beyond the traditional Kibble-Zurek framework.

Findings

Entropy production scales universally with the driving rate.

Numerical tests confirm the predicted scaling in noise-induced phase transitions.

The scaling law involves a new critical exponent related to the control parameter.

Abstract

If a system is driven at finite-rate through a phase transition by varying an intensive parameter, the order parameter shatters into finite domains. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts the typical size of these domains, which are governed only by the rate of driving and the spatial and dynamical critical exponents. We show that also the irreversible entropy production fulfills a universal behavior, which however is determined by an additional critical exponent corresponding to the intensive control parameter. Our universal prediction is numerically tested in two systems exhibiting noise-induced phase transitions.