Response to Cohen and Mauzerall

Abstract

In a recent paper [ J. Stat. Mech. P07006 (2004)], E.G.D. Cohen and David Mauzerall (CM) have argued that the derivation of the nonequilibrium work relation given in [C. Jarzynski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2690 (1997)] is flawed. Here I attempt to answer their criticisms, both by presenting a detailed version of that derivation and by addressing specific objections raised by CM. The derivation presented here is in fact somewhat stronger than the one I gave in 1997, as it does not rely on the assumption of a weak coupling term between the system of interest and its thermal environment.