Work/heat distribution computation, path

The exact computation of P W) in this simple one-dipole model is already a very arduous task that, to my knowledge, has not yet been exactly solved. We can, however, consider a limiting case and try to elucidate the properties of the work (heat) distribution. Here we consider the limit of large ramping speed r, where the dipole executes just one transition from the down to the up orientation. A few of these paths are depicted in Fig. 13b. This is also called a first-order Markov process because it only includes transitions that occur in just one direction (from down to up). In this reduced and oversimplified description, a path is fully specified by the value of the field H at which the dipole reverses orientation. The work along one of these paths is given by... 

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