title: Transition records of stationary Markov chains.
abstract: In any Markov chain with finite state space the distribution of transition records always belongs to the exponential family. This observation is used to prove a fluctuation theorem, and to show that the dynamical entropy of a stationary Markov chain is linear in the number of steps. Three applications are discussed. A known result about entropy production is reproduced. A thermodynamic relation is derived for equilibrium systems with Metropolis dynamics. Finally, a link is made with recent results concerning a one-dimensional polymer model.
authors.affiliation: Departement Fysica, Universiteit Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium. jan.naudts@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naudts
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van der Straeten