Asymptotics of work distributions: The pre-exponential factor

Abstract

We determine the complete asymptotic behaviour of the work distribution in driven stochastic systems described by Langevin equations. Special emphasis is put on the calculation of the pre-exponential factor which makes the result free of adjustable parameters. The method is applied to various examples and excellent agreement with numerical simulations is demonstrated. For the special case of parabolic potentials with time-dependent frequencies, we derive a universal functional form for the asymptotic work distribution.