From interacting particles to fluctuations and thermodynamic evolution

Zuvor findet vor dem Uhrturmhörsaal um 16.45 Uhr ein get-together statt.

Prof. Dr. Johannes Zimmer, TU München

Systems can be described on different scales - notable on a fine scale through particles, and on a macroscopic scale through partial differential equations. The latter describe thermodynamic processes and I will describe a general framework ("GENERIC") for such systems. Thermodynamic equations are irreversible, while typically the underlying particle models are reversible (for example, particles on the molecular level obeying Hamiltonian dynamics, or stochastic interacting particles). I will describe mathematical approaches to derive macroscopic equations from models on a finer scale. The focus will be on a suitable thermodynamic form of the resulting equations: how can we derive the thermodynamic evolution from underlying models on a finer scale? I will focus on model problems (including one work in progress) where the key ideas can be sketched in a relatively simple manner.