[en] We propose a Langevin equation for systems in an environment with nonuniform temperature. At odds with an older proposal, ours admits a locally Maxwellian steady state, local equipartition holds, and for detailed-balanced (reversible) systems statistical and physical entropies coincide. We describe its thermodynamics, which entails a generalized version of the first law and Clausius's characterization of reversibility. Finally, we show that a Brownian particle constrained into a smooth curve behaves according to our equation, as if experiencing nonuniform temperature.
[University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication (FSTC) > Physics and Materials Science Research Unit >]
