Elementary derivation of the dissipation--coherence bound for stochastic oscillators
Statistical Mechanics
2026-03-31 v2 Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
Abstract
The dissipation--coherence bound is a conjectured tradeoff between entropy production and the quality of stochastic oscillations. We show that this tradeoff follows from the higher-order thermodynamic uncertainty relation together with a simple criterion on phase-current fluctuations. Moreover, in one-dimensional cyclic systems, this criterion is both necessary and sufficient for the dissipation--coherence bound. Our approach yields an elementary proof in the weak-noise Gaussian regime and extends naturally to some non-Gaussian systems, as illustrated by a run-and-tumble particle. We also compare current-based and spectral formulations of the dissipation--coherence bound.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.14101,
title = {Elementary derivation of the dissipation--coherence bound for stochastic oscillators},
author = {Artemy Kolchinsky},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.14101},
year = {2026}
}