Seminar Series CMSP @ICTP Thursday 13 October at 11.30 - L.Stasi Sem. Rm. - G. DE CHIARA

[Condensed Matter Section]

ICTP Seminar Series in Condensed Matter & Statistical Physics
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Thursday 13 October at 11.30 a.m.
Luigi Stasi Seminar Room, first floor, ICTP Leonardo Building

Gabriele DE CHIARA
Queen's University Belfast, U.K.

'Out-of-Equilibrium Thermodynamics in Ultracold Atoms"

Abstract:
The study of out-of-equilibrium thermodynamics has received a significant
thrust thanks to the experimental advances in the control and manipulation
of microscopic systems. Work, an ubiquitous concept in traditional 
thermodynamics,
assumes in this context the role of a stochastic variable whose 
fluctuations can be
ingeniously related to equilibrium properties, as is the case of the 
celebrated Jarzynski
equality [1]. In this talk, I will revise these concepts and discuss 
feasible experimental
schemes to directly measure work in cold atomic setups. I will show that 
the interaction
between atoms and the light polarisation of a probe laser, as in atomic 
ensembles
experiments, allows us to measure work fluctuations through a homodyne 
measurement
of the output light [2]. A second scheme allows one to measure the work 
done on an
atomic BEC in a double well potential when the atomic self-interaction 
is varied. I will
discuss strategies based on optimal control techniques to reduce the 
irreversible work
production [3].

References
[1] C. Jarzynski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2690 (1997).
[2] G. De Chiara, A. J. Roncaglia, J. P. Paz, New J. Phys. 17, 035004 (2015)
[3] R. G. Lena, G. M. Palma, G. De Chiara, Phys. Rev. A 93, 053618 (2016)