Fluctuations in inhomogeneous systems: From biopolymers through glasses to Casimir like forces

by Yohai Bar Sinai

at Condensed Matter Theory Seminar

Wed, 15 Jun 2016, 13:30
Physics building (#54) room 207

Abstract

Both thermal fluctuations and material inhomogeneity disorder play a major role in many branches of science This talk will focus on various aspects of the interplay between the two First we consider the spatial distribution of thermal fluctuational energy and derive universal bounds for internal stress free systems In addition we show that in 1D systems the thermal energy is equally partitioned even among coupled degrees of freedom Applications to severing of actin filaments and protein unfolding are discussed Then we consider fluctuations in residually stressed systems and their coupling to non linearities In the context of glassy systems we show that thermal energy is spatially localized and suggest that it might serve as a useful structural diagnostic tool e g for identifying glassy lengthscales and precursors to plastic events under driving forces Lastly we consider the continuum approach Statistical Field Theory to analyzing fluctuations in inhomogeneous systems and demonstrate fundamental discrepancies between the continuum and the discrete theories in explicit 1D calculations of some but not all fluctuation induced Casimir like forces

Created on 03-06-2016 by Bar Lev, Yevgeny (ybarlev)
Updaded on 03-06-2016 by Bar Lev, Yevgeny (ybarlev)