Mesoscopic Thermodynamics for the Dynamics of Small-Scale Systems

We analyze the mesoscopic dynamics of small-scale systems from the perspective of mesoscopic non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The theory obtains the Fokker-Planck equation as a diffusion equation for the probability density of the mesoscopic variables and the nonlinear relationships between activatio...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Author: Rubí Capaceti, José Miguel
Format: Article
Status:Published version
Publication date:2015
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/152109
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/152109
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Termodinàmica del desequilibri
Fenòmens mesoscòpics (Física)
Molècules
Nonequilibrium thermodynamics
Mesoscopic phenomena (Physics)
Molecules
Description
Summary:We analyze the mesoscopic dynamics of small-scale systems from the perspective of mesoscopic non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The theory obtains the Fokker-Planck equation as a diffusion equation for the probability density of the mesoscopic variables and the nonlinear relationships between activation rates and affinities proper of activated processes. The situations that can be studied with this formalism include, among others, barrier crossing dynamics and non-linear transport in a great variety of systems. We, in particular, consider the cases of single-molecule stretching and activated processes in small systems.