Thermodynamics of a Colloidal Particle in a Time-Dependent Non-Harmonic Potential
Statistical Mechanics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
We study the motion of an overdamped colloidal particle in a time-dependent non-harmonic potential. We demonstrate the first law-like balance between applied work, exchanged heat, and internal energy on the level of a single trajectory. The observed distribution of applied work is distinctly non-Gaussian in good agreement with numerical calculations. Both the Jarzynski relation and a detailed fluctuation theorem are verified with good accuracy.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0512461,
title = {Thermodynamics of a Colloidal Particle in a Time-Dependent Non-Harmonic Potential},
author = {V. Blickle and T. Speck and L. Helden and U. Seifert and C. Bechinger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0512461},
year = {2007}
}