Lebowitz J.L., Spohn H.
A Gallavotti-Cohen Type Symmetry in the Large
Deviation Functional for Stochastic Dynamics
(84K, LaTex)

ABSTRACT.  We extend the
work of Kurchan on the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation theorem, which yields a
symmetry property of the large deviation function, to general Markov
processes.  These include jump processes describing the evolution of
stochastic lattice gases driven in the bulk or through particle
reservoirs,general diffusive processes in physical and/or velocity space, as
well as Hamiltonian systems with stochastic boundary conditions.  For dynamics
satisfying local detailed balance we establish a link between the action
functional of the fluctuation theorem and the entropy production.  This gives,
in the linear regime, an alternative derivation of the Green-Kubo formula and
the Onsager reciprocity relations.  In the nonlinear regime
consequences of the new symmetry are harder to come by and the large
derivation functional difficult to compute.  For the asymmetric simple
exclusion process the latter is determined explicitly
using the Bethe ansatz in the limit of large N.