Negative entropy production rates in Drude-Sommerfeld metals

TL;DR

This paper challenges the common belief that entropy production rates are always non-negative, showing that under certain conditions in Drude-Sommerfeld metals, negative entropy production can occur, with implications for experiments.

Contribution

It demonstrates that negative entropy production rates can occur in Drude-Sommerfeld models under specific time-dependent perturbations, contrary to traditional assumptions.

Findings

Negative entropy production rates observed in models

Conditions for negative entropy production identified

Implications for experimental verification discussed

Abstract

It is a commonly accepted creed that in typical situations the rate of entropy production is non-negative. We show that this assertion is not entirely correct if a time-dependent, external perturbation is not compensated by a rapid enough decay of the response function. This is demonstrated for three variants of the Drude model to describe electrical conduction in noble metals, namely the classical free electron gas, the Drude-Sommerfeld model, and the Extended Drude-Sommerfeld model. The analysis is concluded with a discussion of potential experimental verifications and ramifications of negative entropy production rates.