Unifying thermodynamic uncertainty relations

Abstract We introduce a new technique to bound the fluctuations exhibited by a physical system, based on the Euclidean geometry of the space of observables. Through a simple unifying argument, we derive a sweeping generalization of so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs). We not only strengthen the bounds but extend their realm of applicability and in many cases prove their optimality, without resorting to large deviation theory or information-theoretic techniques. In particular, we find the best TUR based on entropy production alone. We also derive a periodic uncertainty principle of which previous known bounds for periodic or stationary Markov chains known in the literature appear as limit cases. From it a novel bound for stationary Markov processes is derived, which surpasses previous known bounds. Our results exploit the non-invariance of the system under a symmetry which can be other than time reversal and thus open a wide new spectrum of applications.