Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2503.03769

Understanding entropy production via a thermal zero-player game

Abstract

Understanding the natural bounds of entropy production for driven nonequilibrium dynamics in many-body systems reveals how the fundamentals of thermodynamics manifest in these regimes across a wide variety of systems. In this direction, we propose and study the dynamics of a thermal zero-player entropy game, the Ising-Conway Entropy Game (ICEg), a self-driven system exhibiting characteristics of lattice gases, Ising models, and discrete games. We show that there is a universal bound on the entropy production rate, independent of temperature and lattice size. The thermalized game is shown to be physically interesting and a plausible testbed for studying the fundamentals of stochastic thermodynamics.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

M. Süzen. 2026-07-10. Understanding entropy production via a thermal zero-player game. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.03769

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

The free energy of the square lattice Ising model with interactions alternating in horizontal and vertical directions

The free energy of the Ising model on the square lattice with alternating interactions in both horizontal and vertical directions is exactly derived. This model is distinct from the checkerboard Ising model. The result includes Onsager's free energy as a special case, and also includes Lee-Yang's free energy with an imaginary field, and relates these two solutions via continuous parameters. The result includes a generalization of Lee-Yang's result to cases with four different couplings. It is also derived that each imaginary magnetic field $iπ/2$ applied to a lattice site corresponds to a single frustrated square in its dual lattice.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Ideal heat engine cycles at maximal efficiency -- the ideal gas and beyond

Given a particular heat engine cycle, what is the optimal working medium that results in the highest efficiency? While one might jump to the conclusion that it must surely be the ideal gas, the situation is actually more intricate. Starting with a general Helmholtz potential that depends polynomially on molar volume and temperature we derive exact expressions for the ideal Stirling, Otto, and Brayton cycles. We find that for the thermodynamic systems described by our ansatz for the Helmholtz potential the maximal efficiency is achieved, if the working medium is described by a fundamental relation linear in temperature. This includes the ideal gas, but also classical harmonic oscillators and phenomenological models of the rubber band.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Local Detailed Balance in the Lorenz Model: Replaces the Butterfly with Frenetic Bursting

The Lorenz system is the canonical low-order model of convective instability, yet its dissipative and driving terms have never been checked against, nor constructed from, an explicit thermodynamic bookkeeping. We derive a modification that satisfies the local-detailed-balance condition for macroscopic relaxation toward nonequilibrium steady states, thereby identifying the thermodynamic force, entropy-production rate and frenesy of the resulting flow. The resulting model produces a transition from a quiescent fixed point to a robust, large-amplitude relaxation oscillation, closely analogous to recharge-discharge oscillator paradigms used for the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. The system alternates between a long, nearly reversible recharge phase and a brief, violently frenetic discharge burst, during which essentially all of the cycle's activity and entropy production is concentrated.

cond-mat.stat-mech