Verification of time-reversibility requirement for systems satisfying the Evans-Searles fluctuation theorem

Abstract

The Evans-Searles fluctuation theorem (ESFT) has been shown to be applicable in the near- and far-from-equilibrium regimes for systems with both constant and time-dependent external fields. The derivations of the ESFT have assumed that the external field has a definite parity under a time-reversal mapping. In the present paper, we confirm that the time-reversibility of the system dynamics is a necessary condition for the ESFT to hold. The manner in which the ESFT fails for systems that are not time-reversible is presented, and results are shown which demonstrate that systems which fail to satisfy the ESFT may still satisfy the Crooks relation (CR). © 2007 IUPAC.