Measuring thermodynamic length

Thermodynamic length is a metric distance between equilibrium thermodynamic states. Among other interesting properties, this metric asymptotically bounds the dissipation induced by a finite time transformation of a thermodynamic system. It is also connected to the Jensen-Shannon divergence, Fisher i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2007-09, Vol.99 (10), p.100602-100602, Article 100602
Main Author: Crooks, Gavin E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ENTROPY
FREE ENERGY
METRICS
STATISTICAL MECHANICS
THERMODYNAMICS
TRANSFORMATIONS
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Summary:Thermodynamic length is a metric distance between equilibrium thermodynamic states. Among other interesting properties, this metric asymptotically bounds the dissipation induced by a finite time transformation of a thermodynamic system. It is also connected to the Jensen-Shannon divergence, Fisher information, and Rao's entropy differential metric. Therefore, thermodynamic length is of central interest in understanding matter out of equilibrium. In this Letter, we will consider how to define thermodynamic length for a small system described by equilibrium statistical mechanics and how to measure thermodynamic length within a computer simulation. Surprisingly, Bennett's classic acceptance ratio method for measuring free energy differences also measures thermodynamic length.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.100602