Fundamental limits on nonequilibrium sensing

Abstract

The performance of equilibrium sensors is restricted by the laws of equilibrium thermodynamics. We here investigate the physical limits on nonequilibrium sensing in bipartite systems with nonreciprocal coupling. We show that one of the subsystems, acting as a Maxwell's demon, can significantly suppress the fluctuations of the other subsystem relative to its response to an external perturbation. Such negative violation of the fluctuation-dissipation relation can considerably improve the signal-to-noise ratio above its corresponding equilibrium value, allowing the subsystem to operate as an enhanced sensor. We find that the nonequilibrium signal-to-noise ratio of linear systems may be arbitrary large at low frequencies, even at a fixed overall amount of dissipation.