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Diverse phenomena, common themes

Nature Physics volume 11, pages 105–107 (2015)Cite this article

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Our framework for understanding non-equilibrium behaviour is yet to match the simplicity and power of equilibrium statistical physics. But recent theoretical and experimental advances reveal key principles that unify seemingly unrelated topics.

Classical thermodynamics is built around the concept of equilibrium states. If we leave a system undisturbed, it relaxes to an apparently quiescent state in which nothing much seems to be happening. From the late nineteenth century through much of the twentieth century, a comprehensive theoretical framework — informed by ever more precise experiments — was developed to explain how the macroscopic properties of these equilibrium states arise from interactions between their microscopic constituents. A grand triumph of this effort was the success in understanding phase transitions and critical phenomena, which provided new tools, stimulated careful experiments and influenced our view of what constitutes a successful physical theory.

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation (USA), under DMR-1206971, and the US Army Research Office under contract number W911NF-13-1-0390.

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  1. Christopher Jarzynski is in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, Maryland 20742 USA,

    Christopher Jarzynski

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  1. Christopher Jarzynski
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Correspondence to Christopher Jarzynski.

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Jarzynski, C. Diverse phenomena, common themes. Nature Phys 11, 105–107 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3229

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