As the size of system becomes small, thermal fluctuations in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions become significant. During the last two decades, there has been great advance in understanding nonequilibrium thermodynamics, especially in noneuqilibrium fluctuations and information thermodynamics of small systems. Information thermodynamics examines the interplay between information and thermodynamics, and the entropic and energy costs of manipulating information. When information is involved in an isothermal thermodynamic process, the second law of thermodynamics is modified. I will review the various aspects of the thermodynamics in small systems. Especially I will talk about the experimentally demonstrated information engine (or a “Maxwell’s demon”) which converts the information from fluctuations of the surrounding into work and its applications in nano-size systems.
Host: Prof. P. Benetatos
WebEx Meeting link: https://knu.webex.com/knu/j.php?MTID=m1d64b67c60899c42b5b23551770e4008
Prof. Hyonsuk Jo