Research pillar · Informs whole equation
Fundamental Physics
The weak interaction, non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the fluctuation–dissipation theorem frame what continuous ambient energy conversion is — and is not — allowed to be. This pillar is the context for the whole equation, including the hard boundary that an equilibrium system yields no net work.
Supporting literature
- Onsager, L. (1931). Reciprocal relations in irreversible processes, I. Physical Review 37, 405. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.37.405 ↗ Symmetry relations governing coupled irreversible flows.
- Onsager, L. (1931). Reciprocal relations in irreversible processes, II. Physical Review 38, 2265. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.38.2265 ↗ Continuation of the reciprocal-relations framework.
- Callen, H. B. & Welton, T. A. (1951). Irreversibility and generalized noise. Physical Review 83, 34. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.83.34 ↗ The fluctuation–dissipation theorem; bounds what equilibrium noise can do.
- Reimann, P. (2002). Brownian motors: noisy transport far from thermal equilibrium. Physics Reports 361, 57–265. doi:10.1016/S0370-1573(01)00081-3 ↗ How broken symmetry rectifies unbiased fluctuations into directed transport.
- Astumian, R. D. (1997). Thermodynamics and kinetics of a Brownian motor. Science 276, 917–922. doi:10.1126/science.276.5314.917 ↗ Stochastic rectification in asymmetric, driven systems.
- Prigogine, I. (1977). Nobel Lecture: time, structure and fluctuations. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. link ↗ Thermodynamics of dissipative structures in open, driven systems.
- de Groot, S. R. & Mazur, P. (1962). Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. North-Holland. Fluxes, forces and entropy production in continuous open systems.
- van Kampen, N. G. (2007). Stochastic Processes in Physics and Chemistry (3rd ed.). Elsevier. Master-equation treatment of directed transport and symmetry breaking.
- Feynman, R. P., Leighton, R. B. & Sands, M. (1963). The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. I, Ch. 46 (Ratchet and Pawl). Addison-Wesley. link ↗ A ratchet at equilibrium extracts no work; directed motion needs non-equilibrium.
- Carnot, S. (1824). Réflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu. Bachelier, Paris. Origin of the maximum efficiency of a heat engine — the archetypal bound.
- Shockley, W. & Queisser, H. J. (1961). Detailed balance limit of efficiency of p–n junction solar cells. Journal of Applied Physics 32, 510. doi:10.1063/1.1736034 ↗ The detailed-balance efficiency ceiling — the principal comparison case.