Thermodynamics at the Microscale

Chris Jarzynski , T-13

What do the laws of thermodynamics look like, when applied to microscopic systems such as optically trapped colloids single molecules manipulated with laser tweezers, and biomolecular machines? Over the past decade or so there has been considerable interest and progress in addressing this question. I will give an overview of these developments, and argue that they have refined our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics.

The P/T Colloquium is
typically held each
Thursday, 3:45–5:00 PM.
Refreshments are served
at 3:15 PM.