| Description |
Non-equilibrium effects are naturally manifest in systems at small
length scales. Thermal fluctuations can lead to observable and
significant deviations from the s average behaviour. As a result, such
systems are not well described by classical thermodynamics and one
needs to extend the ideas of thermodynamics appropriately. An attempt
is made by identifying heat, work and entropy consistently at the
microscopic level. A few general results related to the time reversal
symmetry of distribution functions, known as the fluctuation
relations, have been obtained in this context.
In this talk, I will discuss the stochastic thermodynamics of a
paradigmatic model small system verifying the fluctuation relation for
this case. In the next part of my talk I will discuss a non-invasive
method of estimating the energy dissipation of this stochastic
system. Finally, I will discuss possible modifications of the
fluctuation relations in the presence of feedback control. These
methods have potential applications in improving the performance of
all-scale engines.
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