Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and fluctuations

In the last 10 years, a number of "conventional fluctuation theorems" have been derived for systems with deterministic or stochastic dynamics, in a transient or in a non-equilibrium stationary state. These theorems gave explicit expressions for the ratio of the probability to find the system with a certain value of entropy (or heat) production to that of finding the opposite value. A similar theorem for the fluctuations of the work done on a system has recently been demonstrated experimentally for a simple system in a transient state, consisting of a Brownian particle in water, confined by a moving harmonic potential. In this paper, we show that because of the interaction between the stochastic motion of the particle in water and its deterministic motion in the potential, very different new heat theorems are found than in the conventional case. One of the consequences of these new heat fluctuation theorems is that the ratio of the probability for the Brownian particle to absorb heat from rather than supply heat to the water is much larger than in the conventional fluctuation theorems. This could be of relevance for micro/nano-technology. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.