Consistent thermodynamics reconstructed from transitions between nonequilibrium steady-states

TL;DR

This paper develops a thermodynamic framework for nonequilibrium steady states by experimentally measuring work, heat, and entropy during state transitions, introducing an effective temperature to restore thermodynamic relations.

Contribution

It introduces a state-dependent effective temperature for nonequilibrium steady states and verifies a Crooks-like fluctuation relation experimentally.

Findings

Effective temperature restores the second law in NESS transitions.

A Crooks-like fluctuation relation is experimentally verified.

Distinguishes systems with white-noise and colored-noise fluctuations based on fluctuation-response behavior.

Abstract

Constructing a thermodynamic framework for nonequilibrium systems remains a major challenge, as quantities such as temperature and free energy often become ambiguous when inferred solely from steady-state properties. Here we take a transformation-based approach and experimentally examine transitions between nonequilibrium steady states (NESS). Using an optically trapped microparticle driven by a tunable correlated stochastic force, we generate active-like steady states with controllable noise statistics. By abruptly changing the trap stiffness, we measure the stochastic work, heat, and entropy produced during NESS-to-NESS transformations. We identify a state-dependent effective temperature that restores the second law for these transitions, enabling the definition of a generalized work that incorporates the consequence of the nonequilibrium fluctuations. With this quantity, we derive and experimentally verify a Crooks-like fluctuation relation linking work distributions to a nonequilibrium free-energy difference defined through the effective temperature. Finally, we establish a fluctuation-response relation for the positional variance following stiffness changes. We demonstrate that this relation is key to distinguishing systems that can be described by a unique effective temperature (i.e., those under equilibrium or white-noise conditions) from those under colored-noise, where an equilibrium-like response cannot be restored. These results delineate the applicability and limits of effective-temperature thermodynamics in driven systems.