Features of Driven Diffusive Systems

Condensed Matter lunchtime seminar

Features of Driven Diffusive Systems

  • Event time: 1:00pm
  • Event date: 19th November 2001
  • Speaker: Miriam Clincy (University of Edinburgh)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics describe systems in equilibrium. However, most phenomena occuring in nature are due to systems being not in equilibrium and can therefore not be described with these well-understood methods. For the last decades, these systems have attracted much interest and there exist various approaches to tackle them, e.g. depending on whether the systems are relaxing towards equilibrium (e.g. in glasses) or are permanently driven out of equilibrium by an external field (for example, in the case of conductors in which a current is driven through the system by an electric field).
I will present a one-dimensional model which can be seen as a prototype for the latter class of problems, so-called driven diffusive systems. Although this model is relatively simple, it shows non-trivial features. Presenting some of my own work, I will discuss the origin of phase transitions and symmetry breaking. [1] D. Mukamel in Soft and Fragile Matter: Nonequilibrium Dynamics, Metastability and Flow, Eds. M. E. Cates and M. R. Evans (Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol, 2000); condmat/0003424

About Condensed Matter lunchtime seminars

This is a weekly series of informal talks given primarily by members of the institute of condensed matter and complex systems, but is also open to members of other groups and external visitors. The aim of the series is to promote discussion and learning of various topics at a level suitable to the broad background of the group. Everyone is welcome to attend..

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