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Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Statistical Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2018) | Viewed by 17927

Special Issue Editors

Department of Mathematical Sciences, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: non-equilibrium phenomena; dynamical systems; statistical mechanics; exactly solvable models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Laboratory of Physical Properties, School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering, Technical University of Madrid, Av. Complutense s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: nonequilibrium statistical mechanics; stochastic thermodynamics; dynamical systems; ergodic billiards; heat transport; stochastic lattice systems; stochastic optimization; open quantum systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Out of equilibrium phenomena imply some kind of coupling between the system of interest and an environment. Through the exchange implied by this coupling, the environment steadily or cyclically drives the system, dissipating a certain amount of energy that, by definition, cannot be transformed back into work.

Dissipation has acquired a central role for the description of nonequilibrium phenomena, which are ubiquitous in nature. For instance, this is the case in the study of the symmetries of nonequilibrium fluctuations, of minimal dissipation processes and of quantum measurement, among a host of many other problems.

In recent years, large developments have been achieved towards a mathematical description of dissipative processes, from small scales where nonequilibrium fluctuations dominate the fate of the system, to macroscopic scales where maximizing the thermodynamical efficiency is a must. Dissipation has been proposed as the nonequilibrium counterpart of the thermodynamic potentials, which pave the road to the investigation of non thermodynamic phenomena.

The aim of this Special Issue is to overview the current status of research in this field, from stochastic to deterministic and quantum systems.

Prof. Lamberto Rondoni
Prof. Carlos Mejía-Monasterio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nonequilibrium
  • fluctuation relations
  • response theory
  • mesoscopic systems
  • open quantum systems
  • stochastic thermodynamics

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 578 KiB  
Article
Dissipation Function: Nonequilibrium Physics and Dynamical Systems
by Salvatore Caruso, Claudio Giberti and Lamberto Rondoni
Entropy 2020, 22(8), 835; https://doi.org/10.3390/e22080835 - 30 Jul 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2964
Abstract
An exact response theory has recently been developed within the field of Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics. Its main ingredient is known as the Dissipation Function, Ω. This quantity determines nonequilbrium properties like thermodynamic potentials do with equilibrium states. In particular, Ω can be [...] Read more.
An exact response theory has recently been developed within the field of Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics. Its main ingredient is known as the Dissipation Function, Ω. This quantity determines nonequilbrium properties like thermodynamic potentials do with equilibrium states. In particular, Ω can be used to determine the exact response of particle systems obeying classical mechanical laws, subjected to perturbations of arbitrary size. Under certain conditions, it can also be used to express the response of a single system, in contrast to the standard response theory, which concerns ensembles of identical systems. The dimensions of Ω are those of a rate, hence Ω can be associated with the entropy production rate, provided local thermodynamic equilibrium holds. When this is not the case for a particle system, or generic dynamical systems are considered, Ω can equally be defined, and it yields formal, thermodynamic-like, relations. While such relations may have no physical content, they may still constitute interesting characterizations of the relevant dynamics. Moreover, such a formal approach turns physically relevant, because it allows a deeper analysis of Ω and of response theory than possible in case of fully fledged physical models. Here, we investigate the relation between linear and exact response, pointing out conditions for the validity of the response theory, as well as difficulties and opportunities for the physical interpretation of certain formal results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
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12 pages, 2424 KiB  
Article
Dephasing-Assisted Macrospin Transport
by Stefano Iubini, Simone Borlenghi, Anna Delin, Stefano Lepri and Francesco Piazza
Entropy 2020, 22(2), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/e22020210 - 13 Feb 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2139
Abstract
Transport phenomena are ubiquitous in physics, and it is generally understood that the environmental disorder and noise deteriorates the transfer of excitations. There are, however, cases in which transport can be enhanced by fluctuations. In the present work, we show, by means of [...] Read more.
Transport phenomena are ubiquitous in physics, and it is generally understood that the environmental disorder and noise deteriorates the transfer of excitations. There are, however, cases in which transport can be enhanced by fluctuations. In the present work, we show, by means of micromagnetics simulations, that transport efficiency in a chain of classical macrospins can be greatly increased by an optimal level of dephasing noise. We also demonstrate the same effect in a simplified model, the dissipative Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger equation, subject to phase noise. Our results point towards the realization of a large class of magnonics and spintronics devices, where disorder and noise can be used to enhance spin-dependent transport efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
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15 pages, 2424 KiB  
Article
Transverse Density Fluctuations around the Ground State Distribution of Counterions near One Charged Plate: Stochastic Density Functional View
by Hiroshi Frusawa
Entropy 2020, 22(1), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/e22010034 - 25 Dec 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2479
Abstract
We consider the Dean–Kawasaki (DK) equation of overdamped Brownian particles that forms the basis of the stochastic density functional theory. Recently, the linearized DK equation has successfully reproduced the full Onsager theory of symmetric electrolyte conductivity. In this paper, the linear DK equation [...] Read more.
We consider the Dean–Kawasaki (DK) equation of overdamped Brownian particles that forms the basis of the stochastic density functional theory. Recently, the linearized DK equation has successfully reproduced the full Onsager theory of symmetric electrolyte conductivity. In this paper, the linear DK equation is applied to investigate density fluctuations around the ground state distribution of strongly coupled counterions near a charged plate, focusing especially on the transverse dynamics along the plate surface. Consequently, we find a crossover scale above which the transverse density dynamics appears frozen and below which diffusive behavior of counterions can be observed on the charged plate. The linear DK equation provides a characteristic length of the dynamical crossover that is similar to the Wigner–Seitz radius used in equilibrium theory for the 2D one-component plasma, which is our main result. Incidentally, general representations of longitudinal dynamics vertical to the plate further suggest the existence of advective and electrical reverse-flows; these effects remain to be quantitatively investigated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
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21 pages, 315 KiB  
Article
On the Definition of Energy Flux in One-Dimensional Chains of Particles
by Paolo De Gregorio
Entropy 2019, 21(11), 1036; https://doi.org/10.3390/e21111036 - 25 Oct 2019
Viewed by 2589
Abstract
We review two well-known definitions present in the literature, which are used to define the heat or energy flux in one dimensional chains. One definition equates the energy variation per particle to a discretized flux difference, which we here show it also corresponds [...] Read more.
We review two well-known definitions present in the literature, which are used to define the heat or energy flux in one dimensional chains. One definition equates the energy variation per particle to a discretized flux difference, which we here show it also corresponds to the flux of energy in the zero wavenumber limit in Fourier space, concurrently providing a general formula valid for all wavelengths. The other relies somewhat elaborately on a definition of the flux, which is a function of every coordinate in the line. We try to shed further light on their significance by introducing a novel integral operator, acting over movable boundaries represented by the neighboring particles’ positions, or some combinations thereof. By specializing to the case of chains with the particles’ order conserved, we show that the first definition corresponds to applying the differential continuity-equation operator after the application of the integral operator. Conversely, the second definition corresponds to applying the introduced integral operator to the energy flux. It is, therefore, an integral quantity and not a local quantity. More worryingly, it does not satisfy in any obvious way an equation of continuity. We show that in stationary states, the first definition is resilient to several formally legitimate modifications of the (models of) energy density distribution, while the second is not. On the other hand, it seems peculiar that this integral definition appears to capture a transport contribution, which may be called of convective nature, which is altogether missed by the former definition. In an attempt to connect the dots, we propose that the locally integrated flux divided by the inter-particle distance is a good measure of the energy flux. We show that the proposition can be explicitly constructed analytically by an ad hoc modification of the chosen model for the energy density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
10 pages, 435 KiB  
Article
Fundamental Limits in Dissipative Processes during Computation
by Davide Chiucchiú, Maria Cristina Diamantini, Miquel López-Suárez, Igor Neri and Luca Gammaitoni
Entropy 2019, 21(9), 822; https://doi.org/10.3390/e21090822 - 23 Aug 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2624
Abstract
An increasing amount of electric energy is consumed by computers as they progress in function and capabilities. All of it is dissipated in heat during the computing and communicating operations and we reached the point that further developments are hindered by the unbearable [...] Read more.
An increasing amount of electric energy is consumed by computers as they progress in function and capabilities. All of it is dissipated in heat during the computing and communicating operations and we reached the point that further developments are hindered by the unbearable amount of heat produced. In this paper, we briefly review the fundamental limits in energy dissipation, as imposed by the laws of physics, with specific reference to computing and memory storage activities. Different from previous approaches, we will focus on the sole dynamics of the binary switches, the building blocks of the logic gates and digital memories, without invoking any direct connection to the notion of information. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
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27 pages, 639 KiB  
Article
Detailed Fluctuation Theorems: A Unifying Perspective
by Riccardo Rao and Massimiliano Esposito
Entropy 2018, 20(9), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/e20090635 - 24 Aug 2018
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4483
Abstract
We present a general method to identify an arbitrary number of fluctuating quantities which satisfy a detailed fluctuation theorem for all times within the framework of time-inhomogeneous Markovian jump processes. In doing so, we provide a unified perspective on many fluctuation theorems derived [...] Read more.
We present a general method to identify an arbitrary number of fluctuating quantities which satisfy a detailed fluctuation theorem for all times within the framework of time-inhomogeneous Markovian jump processes. In doing so, we provide a unified perspective on many fluctuation theorems derived in the literature. By complementing the stochastic dynamics with a thermodynamic structure (i.e., using stochastic thermodynamics), we also express these fluctuating quantities in terms of physical observables. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Dissipative Phenomena)
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