Events on Friday, November 19th, 2021
- Graduate Introductory Seminar (Physics 701)
- Cosmic neutrinos with IceCube - results and future steps.
- Time: 12:05 pm - 12:55 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Albrecht Karle, UW Madison Department of Physics
- Host: Sridhara Dasu
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Scaling down the laws of thermodynamics
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: 2103 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Christopher Jarzynski, UMD
- Abstract: Thermodynamics provides a robust conceptual framework and set of laws that govern the exchange of energy and matter. Although these laws were originally articulated for macroscopic objects, nanoscale systems also exhibit “thermodynamic¬-like” behavior – for instance, biomolecular motors convert chemical fuel into mechanical work, and single molecules exhibit hysteresis when manipulated using optical tweezers. To what extent can the laws of thermodynamics be scaled down to apply to individual microscopic systems, and what new features emerge at the nanoscale? I will describe some of the challenges and recent progress – both theoretical and experimental – associated with addressing these questions. Along the way, my talk will touch on non-equilibrium fluctuations, “violations” of the second law, the thermodynamic arrow of time, nanoscale feedback control, strong system-environment coupling, and quantum thermodynamics.
- Host: Alex Levchenko