Statistical Uncertainty Principle in Stochastic Dynamics

Abstract

Maximum entropy principle identifies forces conjugated to observables and the thermodynamic relations between them, independent upon their underlying mechanistic details. For data about state distributions or transition statistics, the principle can be derived from limit theorems of infinite data sampling. This derivation reveals its empirical origin and clarify the meaning of applying it to large but finite data. We derive an uncertainty principle for the statistical variations of the observables and the inferred forces. We use a toy model for molecular motor as an example.