Nonequilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics at the Nanoscale

Over the last few years tremendous advances havebeen achieved in the observation control andunderstanding of many natural and artificialnanoscopic systems. Examples range from molecularmotors which perform many vital functions in ourcells to single-electron transistors. Thesestructures display fascinating properties such ascoherent space-time behaviors or nonlinear transport.The development of new statistical tools capable ofcoping with their equilibrium and nonequilibriumproperties is therefore of fundamental and practicalinterest. In this direction this study explores thefluctuation transport and dissipation properties ofnanoscopic systems. This book contains theoreticaland experimental results that provide new insightsinto the thermodynamics of small systems and shedlight on the origin of irreversibility and itsconstructive role in nonequilibrium processes.Applications are given in the fields of chemistrygenetics and electronic transport. As a resultthis book should be useful and of interest toscientists from a wide range of disciplines frommaterials science to biology.