Performance at maximum figure of merit for a Brownian Carnot refrigerator.

This paper focuses on the coefficient of performance (COP) at maximum χ^{R} figure of merit for a Brownian Carnot-like refrigerator, within the context of the low-dissipation approach. Our proposal is based on the Langevin equation for a Brownian particle bounded to a harmonic potential trap, which can perform Carnot-like cycles at finite time. The theoretical approach is related to the equilibrium ensemble average of 〈x^{2}〉_{eq} which plays the role of a statelike equation, x being the Brownian particle position. This statelike equation comes from the macroscopic version of the corresponding Langevin equation for a Brownian particle. We show that under quasistatic conditions the COP has the same expression as the macroscopic Carnot refrigerator, while for irreversible cycles at finite time and under symmetric dissipation the optimal COP is the counterpart of Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency as also obtained for irreversible macroscopic refrigerators.

Carnot, Stirling, and Ericsson stochastic heat engines: Efficiency at maximum power.

This work uses the low-dissipation strategy to obtain efficiency at maximum power from a stochastic heat engine performing Carnot-, Stirling- and Ericsson-like cycles at finite time. The heat engine consists of a colloidal particle trapped by optical tweezers, in contact with two thermal baths at different temperatures, namely hot (T_{h}) and cold (T_{c}). The particle dynamics is characterized by a Langevin equation with time-dependent control parameters bounded to a harmonic potential trap. In a low-dissipation approach, the equilibrium properties of the system are required, which in our case, can be calculated through a statelike equation for the mean value 〈x^{2}〉_{eq} coming from a macroscopic expression associated with the Langevin equation.

Reply to "Comment on 'Non-Markovian harmonic oscillator across a magnetic field and time-dependent force fields' ".

Recently in a paper by Hidalgo-Gonzalez and Jiménez-Aquino [Phys. Rev. E 100, 062102 (2019)PREHBM2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.100.062102], the generalized Fokker-Planck equation (GFPE) for a Brownian harmonic oscillator in a constant magnetic field and under the action of time-dependent force fields, has been explicitly calculated using the characteristic function method. Although the problem is linear it is not easy to solve, however, the method of the characteristic function is effective and allows to obtain an exact and precise solution of the problem. Our theoretical result has been compared with the one reported by Das et al. in a recently submitted paper [arXiv:2011.09771] using another solution method. The proposed method consists in constructing the GFPE and then calculating each time-dependent coefficient associated with this equation. However, in a more complicated case, one cannot know a priori the exact number of terms that this equation must contain. The precise number is further provided by the characteristic function method.

Non-Markovian harmonic oscillator across a magnetic field and time-dependent force fields.

We study the non-Markovian Brownian motion of an electrically charged harmonic oscillator through the action of both a constant magnetic field and time-dependent force fields. The generalized Langevin equation with a friction memory kernel is used to derive the generalized phase-space Fokker-Planck equation for the harmonic oscillator in the absence and in the presence of time-dependent force fields. To achieve our goal, the characteristic function method is applied to obtain, in an accurate way, the theoretical description of the problem. We explicitly calculate the correlation and cross-correlation functions for the position and velocity vectors. We show that the relevant physics behind the theory is contained in the generalized diffusion coefficient, which accounts for the natural coupling between both the harmonic oscillator and magnetic field. Our theoretical results are compared with those previously reported in the literature.

Non-Markovian barotropic-type and Hall-type fluctuation relations in crossed electric and magnetic fields.

In this paper we derive the non-Markovian barotropic-type and Hall-type fluctuation relations for noninteracting charged Brownian particles embedded in a memory heat bath and under the action of crossed electric and magnetic fields. We first obtain a more general non-Markovian fluctuation relation formulated within the context of a generalized Langevin equation with arbitrary friction memory kernel and under the action of a constant magnetic field and an arbitrary time-dependent electric field. It is shown that this fluctuation relation is related to the total amount of an effective work done on the charged particle as it is driven out of equilibrium by the applied time-dependent electric field. Both non-Markovian barotropic- and Hall-type fluctuation relations are then derived when the electric field is assumed to be also a constant vector pointing along just one axis. In the Markovian limit, we show explicitly that they reduce to the same results reported in the literature.

Non-Markovian work fluctuation theorem in crossed electric and magnetic fields.

The validity of the transient work fluctuation theorem for a charged Brownian harmonic oscillator embedded in a non-Markovian heat bath and under the action of crossed electric and magnetic fields is investigated. The aforementioned theorem is verified to be valid within the context of the generalized Langevin equation with an arbitrary memory kernel and arbitrary dragging in the potential minimum. The fluctuation-dissipation relation of the second kind is assumed to be valid and shows that the non-Markovian stochastic dynamics associated with the particle, in the absence of the external time-dependent electric field, reaches an equilibrium state, as is precisely demanded by such a relation. The Jarzynski equality in this problem is also analyzed.

Detection of weak signals in memory thermal baths.

The nonlinear relaxation time and the statistics of the first passage time distribution in connection with the quasideterministic approach are used to detect weak signals in the decay process of the unstable state of a Brownian particle embedded in memory thermal baths. The study is performed in the overdamped approximation of a generalized Langevin equation characterized by an exponential decay in the friction memory kernel. A detection criterion for each time scale is studied: The first one is referred to as the receiver output, which is given as a function of the nonlinear relaxation time, and the second one is related to the statistics of the first passage time distribution.

Brownian motion of a harmonic oscillator in a noninertial reference frame.

The Brownian motion of a charged harmonic oscillator in the presence of additional force fields, such as a constant magnetic field and arbitrary time-dependent electric and mechanical forces, is studied in a rotational reference frame under uniform motion. By assuming an isotropic surrounding medium (a scalar friction constant), we solve explicitly the Smoluchowski equation associated with the Langevin equation for the charged harmonic oscillator and calculate the mean square displacements along and orthogonal to the rotation axis.

Power fluctuation theorem for a Brownian harmonic oscillator.

In this paper we study the validity of the total power fluctuation theorem spent on a Brownian harmonic oscillator when the system is driven out of equilibrium through the drag of the potential minimum. The theorem is first proved for an ordinary harmonic oscillator in two cases: The first one considers the particle in a thermal bath under the action of Gaussian white noise, and in the second one the drift is provided by an additional external Gaussian colored noise satisfying the characteristics of an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. We go further, by considering a charged harmonic oscillator under the action of an electromagnetic field. The theorem is also proven as in the two cases given above. In both of those cases, we illustrate the theorem for a uniform motion of the trap potential minimum and show that in the presence of external colored noise, the theorem is only valid in the stationary state.

Decay of unstable states driven by colored noise in an electromagnetic field.

The statistics of the first passage time in connection with the quasideterministic (QD) approach is used to characterize the non-Markovian decay process of the unstable state of an electrically charged Brownian particle under the influence of an electromagnetic field. We consider a constant magnetic field and a fluctuating electric field, which satisfies the properties of a Gaussian exponentially correlated noise. It is shown that at the beginning of the decay process, the magnetic field is strongly coupled to the noise correlation time and thus the requirements of the QD approach are not satisfied. Only in the approximation of a weak coupling between both parameters can the time characterization of the decay process be successfully achieved. Our theoretical approach relies on a Langevin equation for the charged particle in an arbitrary two-dimensional unstable potential and applies to a bistable potential as a particular case.