Topic
Non-equilibrium and stochastic thermodynamics research, explained
8 open-access non-equilibrium and stochastic thermodynamics studies, each with a flashcard deck and a quiz.
- Can escape times reveal hidden steps in an energy landscape?
How quickly the fastest particles or molecules finish a journey reveals how many intermediate resting states they must pass through, and roughly how deep those states are.
- Is the inside of a living cell a glass stirred by metabolism?
The cell interior stiffens into a glass-like solid when its energy supply is cut, but in living cells metabolic activity keeps it fluidized near a jamming point, largely independent of the actin skeleton.
- Can swapping lead for tin keep perovskite electrons hot longer?
Adding more tin to lead perovskite nanocrystals slows how fast excited electrons lose their extra energy, and passivating defects with sodium slows it further.
- Can buried quantum dots make wide-gap nitrides conduct holes?
Embedding tiny GaN quantum dots in aluminium-rich AlGaN raised the top of the valence band so magnesium acceptors release holes far more easily, giving good p-type conduction and a better deep-ultraviolet LED.
- How fast should a polymerase's checkpoint steps be?
In models of an RNA-copying enzyme, the steps that tell right from wrong nucleotides must run at a moderate speed, since both too fast and too slow raise the error rate.
- Simulating heat flow through a quantum spin between hot and cold baths
A trick that replaces a warm environment with an equivalent cold one lets a single wave-function simulation reproduce finite-temperature quantum heat flow, including strong-coupling effects.
- Can non-living structures compensate for each other like muscles?
When one self-organized bead chain was held back by a magnet, a nearby chain changed its motion and drew more current, but only when the two were close enough to share charge.
- Can sloppy measurements still power a perfect information engine?
A simulated particle engine turns every bit of information from its measurements into work, and noisier measurements can match precise ones simply by measuring more often.