Fluctuations of entropy and log-normal superstatistics

Abstract

Nonequilibrium complex systems are often effectively described by the mixture of different dynamics on different time scales. Superstatistics, which is "statistics of statistics" with two largely separated time scales, offers a consistent theoretical framework for such a description. Here, a theory is developed for log-normal superstatistics based on the fluctuation theorem for entropy changes as well as the maximum entropy method. This gives novel physical insight into log-normal statistics, other than the traditional multiplicative random processes. A comment is made on a possible application of the theory to the fluctuating energy dissipation rate in turbulence.