Complex heat capacity and entropy production of temperature modulated systems

Non-equilibrium systems under temperature modulation are investigated in the light of the stochastic thermodynamics. We show that, for small amplitudes of the temperature oscillations, the heat flux behaves sinusoidally with time, a result that allows the definition of the complex heat capacity. The real part of the complex heat capacity is the dynamic heat capacity, and its imaginary part is shown to be proportional to the rate of entropy production. We also show that the poles of the complex heat capacity are equal to imaginary unit multiplied by the eigenvalues of the unperturbed evolution operator, and are all located in the lower half plane of the complex frequency, assuring that the Kramers-Kronig relations are obeyed. We have also carried out an exact calculation of the complex heat capacity of a harmonic solid and determined the dispersion relation of the dynamic heat capacity and of the rate of entropy production

Stochastic approach to equilibrium and nonequilibrium thermodynamics

We develop the stochastic approach to thermodynamics based on the stochastic dynamics, which can be discrete (master equation) continuous (Fokker-Planck equation), and on two assumptions concerning entropy. The first is the definition of entropy itself and the second, the definition of entropy production rate which is nonnegative and vanishes in thermodynamic equilibrium. Based on these assumptions we study interacting systems with many degrees of freedom in equilibrium or out of thermodynamic equilibrium, and how the macroscopic laws are derived from the stochastic dynamics. These studies include the quasi-equilibrium processes, the convexity of the equilibrium surface, the monotonic time behavior of thermodynamic potentials, including entropy, the bilinear form of the entropy production rate, the Onsager coefficients and reciprocal relations, and the nonequilibrium steady states of chemical reactions

Stationary Coverage of a Stochastic Adsorption-Desorption Process with Diffusional Relaxation

We show that it is possible to derive the stationary coverage of an adsorption-desorption process of dimers with diffusional relaxation with a very simple ansatz for the stationary distribution of the process supplemented by a hypothesis of global balance. Our approach is contrasted to the exact result and we seek to understand its validity within an instance of the model.Comment: LaTeX 2.09, 7 pages, no figures, uses 'amssymb

Entropy production and heat capacity of systems under time-dependent oscillating temperature

Using the stochastic thermodynamics, we determine the entropy production and the dynamic heat capacity of systems subject to a sinusoidally time dependent temperature, in which case the systems are permanently out of thermodynamic equilibrium inducing a continuous generation of entropy. The systems evolve in time according to a Fokker-Planck or to a Fokker-Planck-Kramers equation. Solutions of these equations, for the case of harmonic forces, are found exactly from which the heat flux, the production of entropy and the dynamic heat capacity are obtained as functions of the frequency of the temperature modulation. These last two quantities are shown to be related to the real an imaginary parts of the complex heat capacity.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Type-dependent irreversible stochastic spin models for genetic regulatory networks at the level of promotion-inhibition circuitry

We describe an approach to model genetic regulatory networks at the level of promotion-inhibition circuitry through a class of stochastic spin models that includes spatial and temporal density fluctuations in a natural way. The formalism can be viewed as an agent-based model formalism with agent behavior ruled by a classical spin-like pseudo-Hamiltonian playing the role of a local, individual objective function. A particular but otherwise generally applicable choice for the microscopic transition rates of the models also makes them of independent interest. To illustrate the formalism, we investigate (by Monte Carlo simulations) some stationary state properties of the repressilator, a synthetic three-gene network of transcriptional regulators that possesses oscillatory behavior.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, 50 references. Significantly revised and updated version accepted for publication in Physica

Subcritical series expansions for multiple-creation nonequilibrium models

Perturbative subcritical series expansions for the steady properties of a class of one-dimensional nonequilibrium models characterized by multiple-reaction rules are presented here. We developed long series expansions for three nonequilibrium models: the pair-creation contact process, the A-pair-creation contact process, which is closely related system to the previous model, and the triplet-creation contact process. The long series allowed us to obtain accurate estimates for the critical point and critical exponents. Numerical simulations are also performed and compared with the series expansions results.Comment: 14 pages and 4 figures. submited to Physical Review

Robustness of first-order phase transitions in one-dimensional long-range contact processes

It has been proposed (Phys. Rev. E {\bf 71}, 026121 (2005)) that unlike the short range contact process, a long-range counterpart may lead to the existence a discontinuous phase transition in one dimension. Aiming at exploring such link, here we investigate thoroughly a family of long-range contact processes. They are introduced through the transition rate $1+a\ell^{-\sigma}$, where $\ell$ is the length of inactive islands surrounding particles. In the former approach we reconsider the original model (called $\sigma-$contact process), by considering distinct mechanisms of weakening the long-range interaction toward the short-range limit. Second, we study the effect of different rules, including creation and annihilation by clusters of particles and distinct versions with infinitely many absorbing states. Our results show that all examples presenting a single absorbing state, a discontinuous transition is possible for small $\sigma$. On the other hand, the presence of infinite absorbing states leads to distinct scenario depending on the interactions at the frontier of inactive sites

Critical properties of the contact process with quenched dilution

We have studied the critical properties of the contact process on a square lattice with quenched site dilution by Monte Carlo simulations. This was achieved by generating in advance the percolating cluster, through the use of an appropriate epidemic model, and then by the simulation of the contact process on the top of the percolating cluster. The dynamic critical exponents were calculated by assuming an activated scaling relation and the static exponents by the usual power law behavior. Our results are in agreement with the prediction that the quenched diluted contact process belongs to the universality class of the random transverse-field Ising model. We have also analyzed the model and determined the phase diagram by the use of a mean-field theory that takes into account the correlation between neighboring sites.Comment: 14 pages and 8 figure

Stochastic thermodynamics of system with continuous space of states

We analyze the stochastic thermodynamics of systems with continuous space of states. The evolution equation, the rate of entropy production, and other results are obtained by a continuous time limit of a discrete time formulation. We point out the role of time reversal and of the dissipation part of the probability current on the production of entropy. We show that the rate of entropy production is a bilinear form in the components of the dissipation probability current with coefficients being the components of the precision matrix related to the Gaussian noise. We have also analyzed a type of noise that makes the energy function to be strictly constant along the stochastic trajectory, being appropriate to describe an isolated system. This type of noise leads to nonzero entropy production and thus to an increase of entropy in the system. This result contrasts with the invariance of the entropy predicted by the Liouville equation, which also describes an isolated system

Positive heat capacity in the microcanonical ensemble

The positivity of the heat capacity is the hallmark of thermal stability of systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. We show that this property remains valid for systems with negative derivative of energy with respect to temperature, as happens to some system described by the microcanonical ensemble. The demonstration rests on considering a trajectory on the Gibbs equilibrium surface, and its projection on the entropy-energy plane. The Gibbs equilibrium surface has the convexity property, but the projection might lack this property, leading to a negative derivative of energy with respect to temperature