Minimum energetic cost to maintain a target nonequilibrium state

Jordan M. Horowitz, Kevin Zhou, and Jeremy L. England
Phys. Rev. E 95, 042102 – Published 4 April 2017

Abstract

In the absence of external driving, a system exposed to thermal fluctuations will relax to equilibrium. However, the constant input of work makes it possible to counteract this relaxation and maintain the system in a nonequilibrium steady state. In this article, we use the stochastic thermodynamics of Markov jump processes to compute the minimum rate at which energy must be supplied and dissipated to maintain an arbitrary nonequilibrium distribution in a given energy landscape. This lower bound depends on two factors: the undriven probability current in the equilibrium state and the distance from thermal equilibrium of the target distribution. By showing the consequences of this result in a few simple examples, we suggest general implications for the required energetic costs of macromolecular repair and cytosolic protein localization.

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  • Received 21 September 2016
  • Revised 20 December 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.95.042102

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsPhysics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Jordan M. Horowitz, Kevin Zhou, and Jeremy L. England

  • Physics of Living Systems Group, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 4 — April 2017

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