The Fluctuation Theorem and Its Practical Limitations: A Numerical Example

The Fluctuation Theorem establishes a relationship between microscopic reversibility and macroscopic irreversible phenomena, such as dissipation. In this short paper, we present an elementary derivation of this theorem within the framework of stochastic thermodynamics. Beginning with a brief examination of the time-reversible laws of motion that rule at the microscopic level, we discuss how through coarse-graining we arrive at the principle of detailed balance. This principle, which was originally proved for equilibrium processes, is extended to out-of-equilibrium situations in order to arrive at the Fluctuation Theorem. Though this extension is theoretically sound, one of the main purposes of this paper is to show that the origin of the practical limitations encountered, when applying this theorem to processes lasting longer than a certain duration, can be explained by the paucity of unlikely events that arise in out-of-equilibrium processes. The numerical results from the one-dimensional, one-particle stochastic model that is introduced here agree very well with the Fluctuation Theorem and, at the same time, bring to light the limits of its applicability in relation to the number of simulations or experiments and the duration of the process under study.