Entropy Production in a Persistent Random Walk

Abstract

We consider a one-dimensional persisent random walk viewed as a deterministic process with a form of time reversal symmetry. Particle reservoirs placed at both ends of the system induce a density current which drives the system out of equilibrium. The phase space distribution is singular in the stationary state and has a cumulative form expressed in terms of generalized Takagi functions. The entropy production rate is computed using the coarse-graining formalism of Gaspard, Gilbert and Dorfman. In the continuum limit, we show that the value of the entropy production rate is independent of the coarse-graining and agrees with the phenomenological entropy production rate of irreversible thermodynamics.

21 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Physica A