Equation 11 · The Statistical Mechanics of Irreversibility at Molecular Scale
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Symbol W
W is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Symbol Δ F
Δ F is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
change
Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.
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What the article says around this equation
In equilibrium statistical mechanics, the free-energy difference F between two control-parameter values is a state function. A rapid drive between them generally performs work W> F on average because dissipation is positive. It would seem that estimating F requires an impractically slow, quasistatic protocol. The Jarzynski equality demonstrates otherwise:
Sources cited in the article section
- [2] Nonequilibrium Equality for Free Energy Differences ↗
- [3] Entropy production fluctuation theorem and the nonequilibrium work relation for free energy differences ↗
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