2007-05-30
10:15 at HCI J 574

Transient and steady state fluctuation relations for nonequilibrium systems

Lamberto Rondoni

Department of Mathematics, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

In the past decade a number of authors have proposed relations describing the behaviour of nonequilibrium systems, with the common charactersitic of referring to the fluctuations of certain observables. Some of these relations concern states evolving out of equilibrium states, when certain external drivings have been switched on; other relations concern the fluctuations around nonequilibrium steady states. The framework within which these relations have been most investigated is that of nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD). Various experimental tests of these relations have been performed on nanoscale devices. These works indicate possible research avenues for a unifying picture of nonequilibrium phenomena. In this talk, some of the relevant NEMD models and the relevant fluctuation relations are illustrated.