Functionals in stochastic thermodynamics: How to interpret stochastic integrals

Abstract

In stochastic thermodynamics standard concepts from macroscopic thermodynamics, such as heat, work, and entropy production, are generalized to small fluctuating systems by defining them on a trajectory-wise level. In Langevin systems with continuous state-space such definitions involve stochastic integrals along system trajectories, whose specific values depend on the discretization rule used to evaluate them (i.e. the 'interpretation' of the noise terms in the integral). Via a systematic mathematical investigation of this apparent dilemma, we corroborate the widely used standard interpretation of heat- and work-like functionals as Stratonovich integrals. We furthermore recapitulate the anomalies that are known to occur for entropy production in the presence of temperature gradients.