Measuring irreversibility by counting: a random coarse-graining framework

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new random coarse-graining method to measure thermodynamic irreversibility in complex systems using simple counting techniques, enabling easier experimental analysis without detailed tracking.

Contribution

It presents a model-free, practical framework for quantifying irreversibility through cross-correlation asymmetry, applicable to many-body systems with minimal data requirements.

Findings

Provides a rigorous lower bound on entropy production.

Enables irreversibility measurement from video microscopy data.

Applicable to diverse nonequilibrium systems.

Abstract

Thermodynamic irreversibility is a fundamental concept in statistical physics, yet its experimental measurement remains challenging, especially for complex systems. We introduce a novel random coarse-graining framework to identify model-free measures of irreversibility in complex many-body systems. These measures are constructed from the asymmetry of cross-correlation functions between suitably chosen observables, providing rigorous lower bounds on entropy production. For many-particle systems, we propose a particularly practical implementation that divides real space into virtual boxes and monitors particle number densities within them, requiring only simple counting from video microscopy, without single-particle tracking, trajectory reconstruction, or prior knowledge of interactions. Owing to its generality and minimal data requirements, the random coarse-graining framework offers broad applicability across diverse nonequilibrium systems.