Asymmetry of steady state current fluctuations in nonequilibrium systems

Abstract

For systems in nonequilibrium steady states, a novel modulated Gaussian probability distribution is derived to incorporate a new phenomenon of biased current fluctuations, discovered by recent laboratory experiments and confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations. Our results consistently extend Onsager-Machlup fluctuation theory for systems in thermal equilibrium. Connections with the principles of Statistical Mechanics due to Boltzmann and Gibbs are discussed. At last, the modulated Gaussian distribution is of potential interest for other statistical disciplines, which make use of the Large Deviation theory.