Independence of the transient fluctuation theorem to thermostatting details

Abstract

The dependence of fluctuation theorem on the precise mathematical details of thermostatting mechanism for an infinite class of fictious time reversible deterministic thermostats was analyzed. Theoretical and numerical analysis were carried out for a class of time reversible deterministic thermostats that fix various moments of the momentum distribution. In this large thermostat the transient fluctuation theorem (TFT) was found dependent of the precise moment that the thermostat fixes. The study shows that in a non-equilibrium system in contact with a thermostat and having large degrees of freedom, the transient fluctuation relation is insensitive to the details of thermostatting mechanisms.