Relationship between dynamical entropy and energy dissipation far from thermodynamic equilibrium.

Connections between microscopic dynamical observables and macroscopic nonequilibrium (NE) properties have been pursued in statistical physics since Boltzmann, Gibbs, and Maxwell. The simulations we describe here establish a relationship between the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy and the energy dissipated as heat from a NE system to its environment. First, we show that the Kolmogorov-Sinai or dynamical entropy can be separated into system and bath components and that the entropy of the system characterizes the dynamics of energy dissipation. Second, we find that the average change in the system dynamical entropy is linearly related to the average change in the energy dissipated to the bath. The constant energy and time scales of the bath fix the dynamical relationship between these two quantities. These results provide a link between microscopic dynamical variables and the macroscopic energetics of NE processes.