Fluctuation theorems from Bayesian retrodiction
Seminar author:Valerio Scarani
Event date and time:01/28/2021 10:00:am
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Quantitative studies of irreversibility in statistical mechanics often involve the consideration of a reverse process, whose definition has been the object of many discussions, in particular for quantum mechanical systems. Here we show that the reverse channel very naturally arises as Bayesian retrodiction, both in classical and quantum theories. Fluctuation relations then become expressions of the statistical divergence between the forward (i.e., predictive) and the reverse (i.e., retrodictive) process. With the reverse process constructed on consistent logical inference, rather than on particular balancing mechanisms in microscopic physics, fluctuation relations acquire a much broader form and scope. Previous paradigmatic results like Jarzynski’s and Crooks’ fluctuation relations are recovered as special cases.
Reference: F. Buscemi and VS, https://arxiv.org/abs/