title: Dynamic relaxation of a levitated nanoparticle from a non-equilibrium steady state.
abstract: Fluctuation theorems are a generalization of thermodynamics on small scales and provide the tools to characterize the fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities in non-equilibrium nanoscale systems. They are particularly important for understanding irreversibility and the second law in fundamental chemical and biological processes that are actively driven, thus operating far from thermal equilibrium. Here, we apply the framework of fluctuation theorems to investigate the important case of a system relaxing from a non-equilibrium state towards equilibrium. Using a vacuum-trapped nanoparticle, we demonstrate experimentally the validity of a fluctuation theorem for the relative entropy change occurring during relaxation from a non-equilibrium steady state. The platform established here allows non-equilibrium fluctuation theorems to be studied experimentally for arbitrary steady states and can be extended to investigate quantum fluctuation theorems as well as systems that do not obey detailed balance.
authors.affiliation: ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gieseler
authors.affiliation: 1] ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain [2] ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quidant
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dellago
authors.affiliation: ETH Zürich, Photonics Laboratory, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Novotny
mesh_terms: D008962:Models, Theoretical; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*