Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics of Small Systems

Buch | Softcover

334 Seiten

2018
MDPI (Verlag)
978-3-03897-057-6 (ISBN)

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A challenging frontier in modern statistical physics concerns systems with a small number of degrees of freedom, far from the thermodynamic limit. Beyond the general interest in the foundation of statistical mechanics, the relevance of this subject is due to the recent increase of resolution in the observation and manipulation of biological and man-made objects at micro- and nano-scales. A peculiar feature of small systems is the role played by fluctuations, which cannot be neglected and are responsible for many non-trivial behaviors. The study of fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities, such as energy or entropy, goes back to Einstein, Onsager, and Kubo; more recently, interest in this matter has grown with the establishment of new fluctuation–dissipation relations, and of so-called stochastic thermodynamics. This turning point has received a strong impulse from the study of systems that are far from the thermodynamic equilibrium, due to very long relaxation times, as in disordered systems, or due to the presence of external forcing and dissipation, as in granular or active matter. Applications of the thermodynamic and statistical mechanics of small systems range from molecular biology to micro-mechanics, including models of nano-transport, Brownian motors, and (living or artificial) self-propelled organisms.

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi (ISC), c/o Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita' Sapienza Roma, p.le A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy

Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi–CNR and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università “Sapienza”, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

Dipartimento di Fisica Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", Piazzale A. Moro, 5 00185 Roma, Italy 2. Santa Fe Institute, NM, USA

Erscheinungsdatum	30.08.2018
Mitarbeit	Gast Herausgeber: Andrea Puglisi, Alessandro Sarracino, Angelo Vulpiani
Verlagsort	Basel
Sprache	englisch
Maße	170 x 244 mm
Themenwelt	Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Thermodynamik
Schlagworte	large deviations • Non-Equilibrium Fluctuations • Small Systems • Statistical Mechanics • Stochastic Thermodynamics
ISBN-10	3-03897-057-3 / 3038970573
ISBN-13	978-3-03897-057-6 / 9783038970576
Zustand	Neuware