The Feynman ratchet-and-pawl revisited | Colóquio IF

 

Resumo do colóquio: The Feynman ratchet-and-pawl is a celebrated illustration of an apparent Maxwell demon, capable of extracting useful work from equilibrium thermal fluctuations. In this talk I review the original context of the ratchet-and-pawl construction and present a microscopic exact conceptualisation, allowing for a discussion based on first principles.
 

Sobre o palestrante: Since 2007 Bart Cleuren joined the Faculty of Sciences of Hasselt University as professor, focusing mainly on research and education in the Bachelor program on Physics. From the start he took up duties in both the exam committee (he became vice president in 2013 and president from 2014 on) and the socalled educational managment team (OMT)(president since 2014). The OMT is responsible for all matters related to education: think of the profile of the program, curriculum, innovation and development, organisation and examination, and the quality assurance. To achieve its goals, the OMT develops a strategyplan in close consultation with various stakeholders. From the start he has been part of the researchgroup on theoretical physics Theory Lab and became leader in 2019. The central research domain, ie the core business of the research group, is statistical physics. This branch of physics uses probability theory and statistics to study various physical problems in which interactions between multiple particles are crucial. The group made important contributions to the theory of  stochastic thermodynamics, polymer dynamics, statistical mechanics of learning, phase transitions, etc. The focus has always been on both fundamental research as well as applications. In more recent years he successfully initiated joint research with experimental oriented groups, most notably the work on the electrically conducting cable bacteria (together with X-Lab, prof. dr. Jean Manca).