Electromagnetic Nanoscale Metrology Based on Entropy Production and Fluctuations

• Main Author: James Baker-Jarvis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2008-10-01
• Series: Entropy
• Subjects: dielectric; entropy; magnetic; nonequilibrium; relaxation
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/10/4/411/

The goal in this paper is to show how many high-frequency electromagnetic metrology areas can be understood and formulated in terms of entropy evolution, production, and fluctuations. This may be important in nanotechnology where an understanding of fluctuations of thermal and electromagnetic energy and the effects of nonequilibrium are particularly important. The approach used here is based on a new derivation of an entropy evolution equation using an exact Liouville-based statistical-mechanical theory rooted in the Robertson-Zwanzig-Mori formulations. The analysis begins by developing an exact equation for entropy rate in terms of time correlations of the microscopic entropy rate. This equation is an exact fluctuation-dissipation relationship. We then define the entropy and its production for electromagnetic driving, both in the time and frequency domains, and apply this to study dielectric and magnetic material measurements, magnetic relaxation, cavity resonance, noise, measuring Boltzmann’s constant, and power measurements.