Time-Reversal Symmetry and Thermodynamic Forces

Abstract

T he emergent field of stochastic thermodynamics uses random variables to investigate the dynamics of microscopic systems that operate out of thermodynamic equilibrium, such as active matter andmetabolic pathways. Now Naruo Ohga and two colleagues at the University of Tokyo have applied tools from stochastic thermodynamics to uncover a universal law that could find broad applications in the description of activematter, cell metabolism, and other systems whose continuous supply of energy keeps them out of equilibrium [1] (Fig. 1.)