Fluctuations, Dissipation and the Jarzynski Equality

Thermodynamics laws govern the behavior of macroscopic quantities
in equilibrium. However, they do not state anything about the fluctuation of
the quantities. In the linear regime outside equilibrium, Onsager has shown a
relation between fluctuation and dissipation (the Fluctuation-Dissipation
Theorem). However, it is limited to systems in near equilibrium. Recently, it
has been shown that time-reversibility of deterministic or stochastic
dynamics implies relations between fluctuation and dissipation in systems far
from equilibrium, taking the form of intriguing equalities: the fluctuation
theorem, the Jarzynski equality, and the Crooks relation. In this talk, I
will attempt to explain these relations using simple kinetic models which can
be solved analytically. The results will be compared with molecular dynamics
simulations.