Recent results in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Christian Maes
University of Leuven
Department of Physics and Astronomy

The development of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics
has been strongly influenced and steered by questions on the working
and the efficiency of heat engines, When machines get smaller, as is
the case for molecular motors, new challenges appear that ask for
investigating fluctuations of entropy and its production. Last decade
has witnessed serious progress in that direction with establishing
generalized fluctuation-dissipation relations and symmetries under time- reversal. I will review some of these results and give a unified
approach enabling to make connections with a variety of experimental
situations. Special emphasis will be put on the case of kinesin and its
motility.

Presentation (PDF File)

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