Abstract
The thesis comprises exactly solvable models from nonequilibrium statistical physics. First, we focus on a single-file diffusion, the diffusion of particles in narrow channel where particles cannot pass each other.
After a brief review, we discuss open single-file systems with absorbing boundaries. Emphasis is put on an interplay of absorption process at the boundaries and interparticle entropic repulsion and how these two aspects affect the dynamics of a given tagged particle.
A starting point of the discussions is the exact distribution for the particle displacement derived by order-statistics arguments. The second part of the thesis is devoted to stochastic thermodynamics.
In particular, we present an exactly solvable model, which describes a Brownian particle diffusing in a time-dependent anharmonic potential. The potential has a harmonic component with a time-dependent force constant and a time-independent repulsive logarithmic barrier at the origin.
For a particular choice of the driving protocol, the exact work characteristic function is obtained. An asymptotic analysis of the resulting expression yields the tail behavior of the work distribution for small and large work values.