Anomalous fluctuation properties.

We complement and extend our work on fluctuations arising in nonequilibrium systems in steady states driven by Lévy noise [H. Touchette and E. G. D. Cohen, Phys. Rev. E 76, 020101(R) (2007)]. As a concrete example, we consider a particle subjected to a drag force and a Lévy white noise with tail index mu epsilon (0,2), and calculate the probability distribution of the work done on the particle by the drag force, as well as the probability distribution of the work dissipated by the dragged particle in a nonequilibrium steady state. For 0<mu<2, both distributions satisfy what we call an anomalous fluctuation property characterized by positive and negative fluctuations that asymptotically have the same probability. For mu=2, by contrast, the work and dissipated work distributions satisfy the known conventional and extended fluctuation relations, respectively, which are both characterized by positive fluctuations that are exponentially more probable than negative fluctuations. The difference between these different fluctuation behaviors is discussed in the context of large deviation theory. Experiments that could probe or reveal an anomalous fluctuation property are also discussed.