English

Work probability distribution of weakly driven process in overdamped dynamics

Statistical Mechanics 2025-04-09 v1

Abstract

Analytical work probability distributions for open classical systems are scarce; they can only be calculated in a few examples. In this work, I present a new method to derive such quantities for weakly driven processes in the overdamped regime for any switching time. The white noise Brownian motion in a harmonic linear stiffening trap illustrates the result. The work probability distribution is non-tabulated, with positive, semi-finite support, diverging at the minimal value, and non-Gaussian. An analysis of the range of validity of linear response is made by using the self-consistent criterion of the fluctuation-dissipation relation. The first, second, third, and fourth moments are correctly calculated for small perturbations.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.05836,
  title  = {Work probability distribution of weakly driven process in overdamped dynamics},
  author = {Pierre Nazé},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.05836},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

6 pages, 10 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:50:35.339Z