Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 21: Stochastic Thermodynamics

DY 21.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10:00–10:15, ZEU/0114

Minimum Action Principle for Entropy Production Rate of Far-From-Equilibrium Systems — •Atul Tanaji Mohite and Heiko Rieger — Department of Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

The Boltzmann distribution connects the energetics of an equilibrium system with its statistical properties, and it is desirable to have a similar principle for non-equilibrium systems. Here, we derive a variational principle for the entropy production rate (EPR) of far-from-equilibrium discrete state systems, relating it to the action for the transition probability measure of discrete state processes [1,2]. This principle leads to a tighter, non-quadratic formulation of the dissipation function, speed limits, the thermodynamic-kinetic uncertainty relation, the large deviation rate functional, and the fluctuation relation, all within a unified framework of the thermodynamic length [2]. Additionally, the optimal control of non-conservative transition affinities using the underlying geodesic structure is explored, and the corresponding slow-driving and finite-time optimal driving exact protocols are analytically computed [1,3]. We demonstrate that discontinuous endpoint jumps in optimal protocols are a generic, model-independent physical mechanism that reduces entropy production during finite-time driving of far-from-equilibrium systems [3].

[1]A.T. Mohite and H. Riger, arXiv:2511.00967. [2]A.T. Mohite and H. Riger, arXiv:2511.00970. [3]A.T. Mohite and H. Riger, arXiv:2511.00974.

Keywords: Fluctuation relation; Thermodynamic-kinetic uncertainty relation; Large deviation theory; Finite-time optimal control; Thermodynamic length