Nonequilibrium heat relation

Abstract

The nonequilibrium work relation, or Jarzynski equality, establishes a statistical relationship between a series of nonequilibrium experiments on a system subjected to thermal fluctuations and a hypothetical experiment at thermodynamic equilibrium. In these experiments, the fluctuating quantity is the work exchanged between the system and its environment, while in the equilibrium scenario, the Helmholtz free energy difference between the system's initial and final states is determined. We inquire about the corresponding associated heat, the contribution of which, when added to the work, yields the change in internal energy. A new equality is presented for the random heat exchanged between the system and its thermal bath during the same protocol as the Jarzynski equality. Guidelines are provided for the experimental conditions required to measure such random heat.