Jarzynski Equality, Crooks Fluctuation Theorem and the Fluctuation Theorems of Heat for Arbitrary Initial States

Zongping Gong, H. T. Quan

Published 2015-03-17Version 1

By taking full advantage of the dynamical property imposed by the detailed balance condition, we derive a new refined unified fluctuation theorem (FT) for general stochastic thermodynamic systems. This FT involves the joint probability distribution functions of the final phase space point and a thermodynamic variable. Jarzynski equality, Crooks fluctuation theorem, and the FTs of heat as well as the trajectory entropy production can be regarded as special cases of this refined unified FT, and all of them are generalized to arbitrary initial ensembles. The validity of the detailed entropy production identity in [M. Esposito, C. Van den Broeck, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 090601 (2010)] is clarified. We also find that the refined unified FT can easily reproduce the FTs for processes with the feedback control, due to its unconventional structure that separates the thermodynamic variable from the choices of initial ensembles. Our result is heuristic for further understanding of the relations and distinctions between all kinds of FTs, and might be valuable for investigating thermodynamic processes with information exchange.