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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 11: Focus Session: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics of Small Systems

DY 11.1: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 10:00–10:30, HÜL 186

Doing small systems: Concepts, Role of Ensembles, Thermalization and Fluctuation Theorems — •Peter Hänggi — Universität Augsburg, Institut für Physik, Universitätsstr. 1, 86135 Augsburg

This symposium is aimed at highlighting issues that relate of doing thermodynamics and statistical physics of finite size systems. This theme gained considerable importance in view of fascinating advances in nanotechnology and system biology. While the fathers of thermodynamics developed the famous Laws having in mind macroscopic systems these grand concepts need to be inspected anew in view of the fact that the fluctuations grow with decreasing size to a level where they even may play the dominant role.-- The symposium touches upon several timely issues in designing, measuring and operating systems at the submicron scale, both IN and also FAR AWAY from thermal equilibrium. With this introduction I discuss subtleties related to thermodynamics of small systems, such as (i) the role of finite size for quantities such as (in some cases negative-valued) heat capacitance [1], (ii) the role of entropy and temperature in these small systems, or (iii) the issue of thermalization. Moreover, a key role in doing statistical physics of submicron systems relates to (iv) the choice of the ensemble description and the inter-relationships between the sizable fluctuations of measures like work, heat & heat flow and thermodynamic equilibrium quantifiers such as free energy changes or changes of entropy. [1] P. Hänggi, et al., Finite quantum dissipation: the challenge of obtaining specific heat, New J. Phys. 10, 115008 (2008); in addition see also: G. Ingold, et al., Phys. Rev. E 79, 061105 (2009) .