Quantitative analysis of non-equilibrium systems from short-time experimental data

Abstract: We provide a minimal strategy for the quantitative analysis of a large class of non-equilibrium systems in a {statistically} steady state using the short-time Thermodynamic Uncertainty Relation (TUR). From short-time trajectory data obtained from experiments, we demonstrate how we can simultaneously infer quantitatively, both the thermodynamic force field acting on the system, as well as the (potentially exact) rate of entropy production. We benchmark this scheme first for an experimental study of a colloidal particle system where exact analytical results are known, before applying it to the case of a colloidal particle in a hydrodynamical flow field, where neither analytical nor numerical results are available. In this latter case, we build an effective model of the system based on our results. In both cases, we also demonstrate that our results match with those obtained from another recently introduced scheme [Phys. Rev. X 10, 021009].