Irreversibility and randomness in linear response theory

Abstract

Recall that the fluctuation-dissipation theorem connects the response function of a passive linear system and the spectral density of the stationary stochastic process which describes the thermal fluctuations in the system. It is shown that the classical limit (ħ=0) of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem implies a correspondence between systems which are reversible in the sense that the energy used to drive them away from equilibrium is completely recoverable as work and processes which are deterministic in the sense of Wiener's prediction theory, while irreversible systems correspond to nondeterministic processes. This correspondence is expressed by a simple transformation between the operator kernel which determines the optimal choice of the time-dependent force and the linear predictor for the stochastic process. For quantum systems this correspondence does not hold; the fluctuations are always of the deterministic type for any finite temperature, but the system is not necessarily reversible. For irreversible systems a formula is derived for the instantaneous entropy production which is a generalization of the standard one for Markovian dynamics.