Events in MathSys and Complexity Science
This is a calendar page detailing events within the MathSys CDT. It also acts as a booking diary for the Seminar Room D1.07. To book D1.07 please email Sheetal.Sharma@warwick.ac.uk
Please note that your event booking is for D1.07 only. The adjacent common room is a private area for the MathSys Centre that cannot used as part of your booking.
MathSys CDT events have priority for D1.07 room bookings.
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Will there ever be a complete theory of nonequilibrium systems having
the same predictive power as that of equilibrium statistical
mechanics? Though most researchers in statistical mechanics would hope
and conjecture that the answer is yes, we do not have at present such
a theory.
We know, of course, a lot about nonequilibrium systems. Results such
as Onsager's reciprocity relations, Onsager and Machlup's principle of
minimum dissipation, and the more recent results that are Jarzynski's
equality and the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuation theorem, among others,
all point to many general and interesting properties of nonequilibrium
systems and their fluctuations. However, no one has come up so far
with a common thread -- a common theory -- accounting for or
integrating all of these results. Does such a theory exist? Can these
results be viewed as consequences of a small number of general
principles? Taking equilibrium statistical mechanics as a model, is
there a way to devise a theory based on something generalizing the
concept of a statistical-mechanical ensemble that would be applicable
to nonequilibrium systems at large?
This mini-workshop will aim at summarizing part of our current
understanding of these questions and at advancing some possible
answers. The speakers will provide a background for the discussion by
presenting some recent results related to the foundations of
nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. An open discussion will follow,
at which participants are expected to ask questions and advance ideas
as to where we stand in terms of research on nonequilibrium systems,
and how we might pursue that research. Everyone is welcome.
**Schedule
11:00-11:30 Tea/coffee/welcome
11:30-12:30 Rosemary J. Harris, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen
Mary, University of London
Current fluctuations in stochastic non-equilibrium systems: Phase
transitions and symmetries
12:30-1:30 Lunch break
1:45-2:45 R. Mike L. Evans, School of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Leeds
Complex fluids under shear: Theories and experiments
3:00-4:00 Richard Blythe, SUPA, School of Physics, University of
Edinburgh
The appearance of a partition function, fugacities and Boltzmann
weights in nonequilibrium steady states
4:00-4:15 Tea/coffee
4:15-5:15 Round table: Open problems in nonequilibrium statistical
mechanics
Evening Discussion in the Pub