La tradizionale Boltzmann Lecture di quest'anno si terrà il 22 Febbraio alle 14:30, con una lezione della professoressa Leticia Cugliandolo della Sorbonne Université and Institut Universitaire de France, Paris.
Thermodynamic concepts out of equilibrium: from classical to quantum
Statistical Mechanics is the theoretical tool that describes the equilibrium collective behaviour of macroscopic classical and quantum systems. Notably, it has explained full branches of physics such as thermodynamics and phase transitions. In so doing, it gave a microscopic meaning to so far phenomenological variables such as temperature and pressure. At present, there is no equivalent framework for generic out-of-equilibrium macroscopic systems. One is forced to analyse their dynamics on a case-by-case basis and try to extract from these studies, for example, variables that could behave as the thermodynamic ones. In this talk, I will give two seemingly different but timely examples of out of equilibrium systems: classical active matter and a quantum isolated spin chain. Although we may ignore the details of their asymptotic behaviour and their full statistical description, I will show that an effective temperature can be identified and used as a guideline to grasp at least some of the macroscopic properties of these problems. I will then explain how these results fit within ideas developed in the context of a glassy system and speculate about how one could build upon these results to improve our understanding of the physics far from equilibrium.
Il webinar sarà trasmesso a questo link:
https://sissa-it.zoom.us/j/85683450581
Leticia Fernanda Cugliandolo è una professoressa alla Sorbonne Université and Institut Universitaire de France, Paris. Originaria dell'argentina e specializzata nella fisica della materia condensata, è nota per le sue ricerche sulla termodinamica del non-equilibrio, sui vetri di spin e dei sistemi vetrosi. Ha vinto il premio Prix Paul Langevin in 2002 e nello stesso hanno ha vinto il premio Marie Curie della Commissione Europea. Ha vinto il premio Irène Joliot-Curie Prize per la scienziata dell'anno nel 2015.