Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics of Small Systems Fluctuation Relations and Beyond

This book constitutes the first step towards a comprehensive picture of nonequilibrium phenomena at the mesoscopic scales. As such, it provides an introduction to scientists and engineers in nano-and biotechnologies, from both the fundamental and applied standpoints. Written by internationally recognized experts in the field, the topics cover a wide range, striking a healthy balance between theory and experiment. These include in-depth introductions to nonequilibrium fluctuation relations, nonlinear dynamics and transport, molecular diffusion in nanopores, and single molecule experiments in nano- and biosystems. The book also goes on to explore the application of these concepts to nano-systems and cross-links to further topics in nonequilibrium statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics.

Rainer Klages, Reader in Applied Mathematics at Queen Mary University of London, studied physics and philosophy at the Technical University of Berlin. His research stations were Maryland/USA, Budapest, Brussels, and Dresden. His main research interests are nonlinear dynamics, complex systems and nonequilibrium statistical physics with applications to nano- and biosystems.

Wolfram Just, Reader in Applied Mathematics at Queen Mary University of London, studied theoretical physics in Darmstadt, Fukuoka, Goettingen, and Dresden. His research interests cover topics in statistical physics and dynamical systems theory with special emphasis on synchronisation and control, dynamics with time delay, phase transitions in spatially extended systems, derivation of transport equations, large deviations and extreme events, and complex networks.

Christopher Jarzynski studied physics at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley. After a postdoctoral appointment at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle, he spent ten years at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and since 2006 he has been on the faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park, in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research interests include nonequilibrium statistical physics, computational thermodynamics, with the modeling of nanoscale phenomena.

Part I: Fluctuation relations
Fluctuation relations: A pedagogical overview
Fluctuation Relations and the foundations of statistical thermodynamics: A deterministic approach and numerical demonstration
Fluctuation relations in small systems: Exact results from the deterministic approach
Measuring out of equilibrium fluctuations
Recent progress in fluctuation theorems and free energy recovery
Information thermodynamics: Maxwell's demon in nonequilibrium dynamics
Time-reversal symmetry relations for currents in nonequilibrium stochastic and quantum systems
Anomalous fluctuation relations

Part II: Beyond fluctuation relations
Out-of-equilibrium generalized fluctuation-disspation relations
Anomalous thermal transport in nanostructures
Large deviation approach to nonequilibrium systems
Lyapunov modes in extended systems
Study of single molecule dynamics in mesoporous systems, glasses and living cells