Macroscopic fluctuation theory

Understand

Stationary non-equilibrium states describe steady flows through macroscopic systems.

• Although they represent the simplest generalization of equilibrium states, they exhibit a variety of new phenomena.
• Within a statistical mechanics approach, these states have been the subject of several theoretical investigations, both analytic and numerical.
• The macroscopic fluctuation theory, based on a formula for the probability of joint space-time fluctuations of thermodynamic variables and currents, provides a unified macroscopic treatment of such states for driven diffusive systems.