Figure 1.

Entropy production rate $\dot{\sigma }\left(t\right)$ against time plotted for different N-site cycles by keeping the velocity v and diffusion coefficient D constant. The velocity v (here chosen to be $v=\frac{3D}{2\pi R}$) needs to be within the bounds implied by $\beta \ge 0$ of Equation (13) for $N\ge 3$. The steady-state value $v^2/D$ (black curve) is reached for $N\to \infty$.