Nonequilibrium Fluctuation-Response Relations for State Observables

Abstract: Time-integrated state observables, which quantify the fraction of time spent by the system in a specific pool of states, are important in many fields, such as chemical sensing or the theory of fluorescence spectroscopy. We derive exact identities, called Fluctuation-Response Relations (FRRs), that connect the fluctuations of such observables to their response to external perturbations in nonequilibrium steady state of Markov jump processes. Using these results, we derive novel upper and lower bounds for fluctuations. We further demonstrate their applicability for simplifying calculations of fluctuations in large Markov networks, use them to explain the physical origin of positive and negative correlations of occupation times in a double quantum dot device, and discuss their relevance for model inference.