Proof of the finite-time thermodynamic uncertainty relation for steady-state currents

Abstract

The thermodynamic uncertainty relation offers a universal energetic constraint on the relative magnitude of current fluctuations in nonequilibrium steady states. However, it has only been derived for long observation times. Here, we prove a recently conjectured finite-time thermodynamic uncertainty relation for steady-state current fluctuations. Our proof is based on a quadratic bound to the large deviation rate function for currents in the limit of a large ensemble of many copies.