Nonequilibrium System Behavior Associated with Nonchaotic Barrier

We report the Monte Carlo simulation result of a Billiard-type model system. Two large ergodic and chaotic areas are separated by a narrow nonchaotic barrier, referred to as the spontaneously nonequilibrium dimension (SND). The large areas have different heights in a gravitational field. In-plane pressure does work to the lower “plain” when the plain area varies, and gravitational force does work to the upper “plateau” when the plateau height changes. Associated with the local nonchaoticity, the particle density ratio across the SND is spontaneously in a non-Boltzmann form, and the cross-influence of the thermally correlated thermodynamic driving forces becomes asymmetric. As a result, in an isothermal cycle, the overall produced work is greater than the overall consumed work, which cannot be described in the conventional framework of statistical mechanics. A similar effect may be achieved without changing the plateau height, if the plateau-plain border is switchable. SND is not Maxwell’s demon. Its operation does not require specific knowledge of system microstate and therefore, the explanation of the system performance should be unrelated to the physical nature of information.