Nonequilibrium steady-state circulation and heat dissipation functional.

A nonequilibrium steady-state (NESS), different from an equilibrium, is sustained by circular balance rather than detailed balance. The circular fluxes are driven by energy input and heat dissipation, accompanied by a positive entropy production. Based on a Master equation formalism for NESS, we show the circulation is intimately related to the recently studied Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry of heat dissipation functional, which in turn suggests a Boltzmann's formulalike relation between rate constants and energy in NESS. Expanding this unifying view on NESS to diffusion is discussed.