Die fortschreitende Miniaturisierung technischer Geräte führt zu neuen und interessanten Fragestellungen für die statistische Physik. Die thermodynamischen Eigenschaften nanoskopischer Maschinen, Wärmepumpen und Motoren sind auf entscheidende Art und Weise anders als die ihrer makroskopischen Verwandten. Der starke und allgegenwärtige Einfluss von thermischen Fluktuationen in mikroskopischen Systemen sorgt auf der einen Seite für neue Schwierigkeiten, eröffnet auf der anderen Seite aber auch neue Perspektiven. In den letzten fünf Jahren hat sich das Verständnis der Möglichkeiten und generellen Grenzen von Nanosystemen im Rahmen der statistischen Physik wesentlich erweitert. Eine wichtige Voraussetzung für diese  Entwicklungen war die Entdeckung der Arbeits- und Fluktuationstheoreme für allgemeine Nichtgleichgewichtsprozesse in den 90-iger Jahren und die Begründung der stochastischen Thermodynamik als Theorie der Energiewandlung auf der Nanoskala.

Ein zentrales Thema der aktuellen Forschungsarbeit auf diesem Gebiet  ist die Optimierung der Effizienz von Nanomaschinen wie Einzel-Molekül-Motoren und winzigen Kühlaggregaten. Diese Entwicklungen wurden einerseits durch entscheidende Fortschritte in den experimentellen Techniken stimuliert. Interessanterweise hat sich andererseits herausgestellt, dass viele dieser praktisch relevanten Fragen direkt mit fundamentalen Problemen der statistischen Physik wie der Möglichkeit eines Maxwell'schen Dämons, der Gleichrichtung thermischer Fluktuationen und der minimal nötigen Dissipation in der Informationsverarbeitung verbunden sind. 

Der workshop bringt führende Experten aus der statistischen Physik fluktuierender Nichtgleichgewichtssysteme und junge Wissenschaftler (Studenten und Doktoranden) zusammen, und soll als Forum für gemeinsame Überlegungen und Diskussionen zum aktuellen Stand der Forschung und zu den Perspektiven dieses interessanten Forschungsgebietes dienen. Er wird von der European Science Foundation im Rahmen des Netzwerks „Exploring the Physics of Small Devices“ und dem Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Delmenhorst unterstützt.

Eingeladene Speaker

  • Valentin Blickle (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Dieter Braun (LMU Munich, Germany)
  • Sergio Ciliberto (LPENS Lyon, France)
  • Massimiliano Esposito (Free University of Brussels, Belgium)
  • Stephan Grill (MPI Dresden, Germany)
  • Pierre Gaspard (Free University of Brussels, Belgium)
  • Christopher Jarzynski (University of Maryland, USA)
  • Ryoichi Kawai (University of Alabama, USA)
  • Heiner Linke (Lund University, Sweden)
  • Theodorus Nieuwenhuizen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
  • Juan Manuel Parrondo (University of Madrid, Spain)
  • Peter Reimann (University Bielefeld, Germany)
  • Riccardo Rurali (University of Barcelona, Spain)
  • Udo Seifert (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Christian Van den Broeck (University of Hasselt, Belgium)

Programm

 

Sunday, October 10

Arrival, gathering of participants in the hotel

Monday, October 11

09:15 – 09:45    Welcome
09:45 – 10:45    Udo Seifert: Optimization in stochastic thermodynamics
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Sergio Ciliberto: Fluctuation-dissipation in out-of-equilibrium systems
12:00 – 12:45     Pierre Gaspard: From loose to tight coupling between fluctuating
                              transport processes 
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
14:00 – 15:30    posters and discussion
15:30 – 16:00   coffee break
16:00 – 16:45    Valentin Blickle: Colloidal particles as probes for stochastic
                              thermodynamics
16:45 – 17:30    Christian Van den Broeck: The three faces of the second law 
                             in stochastic thermodynamics

Tuesday, October 12 

09:00 – 10:00    Dieter Braun: Biomolecules in temperature gradients: From biotechnology
                             to Darwinian evolution
10:00 – 10:45    Stephan Grill: Active forces and flows that drive cellular polarization
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Heiner Linke: Optimizing the design of a synthetic protein motor
12:00 – 12:45    Riccardo Rurali: Thermal nanomotor based on carbon nanotubes
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
14:00 – 15:30    posters and discussion
15:30 – 16:00   coffee break
16:00 – 16:45    Theo Nieuwenhuizen: Brownian entanglement: Entanglement in
                             classical Brownian motion
16:45 – 17:30    Peter Reimann: Equilibration and thermalization under experimentally
                             realistic conditions
19:00                  conference dinner

Wednesday, October 13 

09:00 – 10:00    Christopher Jarzynski: Guiding the motion of artificial molecular
                             machines
10:00 – 10:45    Juan Manuel Parrondo: Cooling classical particles with a microcanonical
                             Szilard engine
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Ryoichi Kawai: Efficiency at maximum power in weak dissipation regimes
12:00 – 12:45    Massimiliano Esposito: Optimization of efficiency, Onsager
                             symmetry, and the fluctuation theorem
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
                             Departure

Poster board size:

width:   1,18 m
height: 1,40 m

 

Programme

 

Sunday, October 10

Arrival, gathering of participants in the hotel

Monday, October 11

09:15 – 09:45    Welcome
09:45 – 10:45    Udo Seifert: Optimization in stochastic thermodynamics
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Sergio Ciliberto: Fluctuation-dissipation in out-of-equilibrium systems
12:00 – 12:45     Pierre Gaspard: From loose to tight coupling between fluctuating
                              transport processes 
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
14:00 – 15:30    posters and discussion
15:30 – 16:00   coffee break
16:00 – 16:45    Valentin Blickle: Colloidal particles as probes for stochastic
                              thermodynamics
16:45 – 17:30    Christian Van den Broeck: The three faces of the second law in
                             stochastic thermodynamics

Tuesday, October 12 

09:00 – 10:00    Dieter Braun: Biomolecules in temperature gradients: From biotechnology
                             to Darwinian evolution
10:00 – 10:45    Stephan Grill: Active forces and flows that drive cellular polarization
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Heiner Linke: Optimizing the design of a synthetic protein motor
12:00 – 12:45    Riccardo Rurali: Thermal nanomotor based on carbon nanotubes
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
14:00 – 15:30    posters and discussion
15:30 – 16:00   coffee break
16:00 – 16:45    Theo Nieuwenhuizen: Brownian entanglement: Entanglement in
                             classical Brownian motion
16:45 – 17:30    Peter Reimann: Equilibration and thermalization under experimentally
                             realistic conditions
19:00                  conference dinner

Wednesday, October 13 

09:00 – 10:00    Christopher Jarzynski: Guiding the motion of artificial molecular
                             machines
10:00 – 10:45    Juan Manuel Parrondo: Cooling classical particles with a microcanonical
                             Szilard engine
10:45 – 11:15   coffee break
11:15 – 12:00    Ryoichi Kawai: Efficiency at maximum power in weak dissipation regimes
12:00 – 12:45    Massimiliano Esposito: Optimization of efficiency, Onsager
                             symmetry, and the fluctuation theorem
13:00 – 14:00   lunch
                             Departure

Poster board size:

width:   1,18 m
height: 1,40 m

With the miniaturization of technical devices several new and exciting challenges for statistical mechanics arise. The thermodynamic properties of nanoscopic machines, heat pumps and motors are profoundly different from those of their macroscopic counterparts. The strong and ubiquitous influence of thermal fluctuations at the microscopic level both poses new problems and opens new possibilities. In the last five years there has been substantial progress in the understanding of the promises and general limits of nano-devices from the point of view of statistical mechanics. Important prerequisites for these developments were the discovery of work and fluctuation theorems for general non-equilibrium processes in the 1990s and the establishment of stochastic thermodynamics as the theory governing energy conversion at the nanoscale. 

A central theme of recent research activity is the optimization of efficiency and performance of nano-systems like single molecule machines and tiny refrigerators. On the one hand these investigations were stimulated by significant progress in the experimental techniques. On the other hand it has turned out that many of these questions of direct practical relevance are intimately connected with problems at the very foundations of statistical mechanics like the feasibility of Maxwell's demon, the rectification of thermal fluctuations and the minimal amount of dissipation in information processing. 

The workshop will bring together experts in the statistical mechanics of fluctuating non-equilibrium systems and young scientist (students and PhD-students) to discuss recent progress and future prospects in this exciting research field. It is is supported by the ESF under the research networking program “Exploring the Physics of Small Devices” and by the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK).

List of Invited Speakers

  • Valentin Blickle (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Dieter Braun (LMU Munich, Germany)
  • Sergio Ciliberto (LPENS Lyon, France)
  • Massimiliano Esposito (Free University of Brussels, Belgium)
  • Stephan Grill (MPI Dresden, Germany)
  • Pierre Gaspard (Free University of Brussels, Belgium)
  • Christopher Jarzynski (University of Maryland, USA)
  • Ryoichi Kawai (University of Alabama, USA)
  • Heiner Linke (Lund University, Sweden)
  • Theodorus Nieuwenhuizen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
  • Juan Manuel Parrondo (University of Madrid, Spain)
  • Peter Reimann (University Bielefeld, Germany)
  • Riccardo Rurali (University of Barcelona, Spain)
  • Udo Seifert (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Christian Van den Broeck (University of Hasselt, Belgium)