title: Thermodynamics of a colloidal particle in a time-dependent nonharmonic potential.
abstract: We study the motion of an overdamped colloidal particle in a time-dependent nonharmonic potential. We demonstrate the first lawlike 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.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Blickle
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Speck
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Helden
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bechinger