Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/iii/paper-344/3/g/solution

For a specified field trajectory, the required normalized noise is
and time reversal changes only to . Assuming equal additive-noise Jacobians, the difference of the two Onsager--Machlup actions gives
The functional chain rule identifies the first term as , so
The forcing performs generalized work , and is the heat dissipated into the bath. The formula is therefore the field-theory form of local detailed balance and quantifies nonequilibrium entropy production.

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