[PhilPhys] FRIDAY - Annual Lecture Series - Nicole Yunger Halpern - Field notes on the second law of thermodynamics from a quantum physicist

[Center for Phil Sci]

The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to join us for our 64th Annual Lecture Series Talk. Attend in person in room 1008 in the Cathedral of Learning or visit our live stream on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.


The Annual Lecture Series, the Center’s oldest program, was established in 1960, the year when Adolf Grünbaum founded the Center. Each year the series consists of six to eight lectures, about three quarters of which are given by philosophers, historians, and scientists from other universities.


ALS – Nicole Yunger Halpern

Friday, March 22 @ 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm EDT

1008 Cathedral of Learning (10th Floor)


Title: Field notes on the second law of thermodynamics from a quantum physicist

Abstract: Thermodynamics reigns as queen of the physical theories, governing everything from biophysics to cosmology. The second law of thermodynamics heads her court, stipulating that time appears to flow in only one direction and limiting engines’ efficiencies. However, idealizations curtail the original second law’s applicability: small systems violate simple, early formulations of the law, which imply quantitative predictions only about equilibrium states. The nineteenth-century law has been tightened, including within quantum thermodynamics, a field that has taken off in the past decade. I will illustrate this progress with examples. As a spoiler alert: I know of no ways to leverage quantum phenomena to break the second law. However, quantum and other resources enable us to “bend around” the second law: we can appear to violate the law while, in fact, subtly avoiding assumptions behind modern formulations of the law. Reference: Yunger Halpern, Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow, Johns Hopkins University Press (2022).


Can’t make it in-person? This talk will available online with the following Zoom link: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/99729209600

This talk will also be available live streamed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.


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