Thermodynamic work of partial resetting

Partial resetting, whereby a state variable x(t) is reset to a value a x (t), 0≤ a ≤ 1, generalizes conventional resetting by introducing the resetting strength a as a parameter. Here such resetting processes are studied from a thermodynamic perspective. The resetting phase of the dynamics is implemented by a resetting potential Φ(x) that mediates the resets in finite time. By working in a ensemble of trajectories with a fixed number of resets, we study both the steady-state properties of the propagator and its moments. The thermodynamic work needed to sustain this non-equilibrium steady state is investigated. We find that different resetting traps can give rise to mean rate of work that has widely different dependence on the resetting strength a. Surprisingly, in the case of resets mediated by a harmonic trap with otherwise free diffusive motion, the asymptotic rate of work is insensitive to the value of a. For general anharmonic traps, the asymptotic rate of work can be both increasing or decreasing as a function of the strength, depending on the degree of anharmonicity. Counter to intuition, the rate of work can therefore in some cases increase as the resetting becomes weaker (a→ 1) although the work vanishes at a=1. Work in the presence of a background potential is also considered. Numerical simulations confirm our findings.