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Brownian particles in nonequilibrium baths

Objective

The power of thermodynamics comes at the expense of certain assumptions and idealizations. An important premise is the concept of a thermal bath which is in contact with the examined system. Typically, such baths are idealized as an infinite reservoir of heat that remains in equilibrium regardless of whether the system in contact is in equilibrium or not. Such description, however, is only valid when the bath relaxation time is much faster than typical time scales of the system. Otherwise, a driven system excites the bath out of equilibrium and will interact with nonequilibrium fluctuations. Recent experiments using colloidal particles within viscoelastic baths, whose relaxation times are comparable to colloidal timescales, have revealed surprising and only poorly understood novel behaviors which are attributed to the nonequilibrium properties of the bath. Examples include particle oscillations inside moving optical traps, a fastened hopping dynamics across potential barriers, an up to 100-fold enhanced rotational diffusion of drifting particles, but also the presence of about one-million-fold increased Magnus forces. Here, we propose a series of novel experiments aiming to uncover the impact of a non-equilibrated bath on the behavior of externally driven colloidal particles but also to exploit such effect for applications. In those experiments we will investigate how nonequilibrium surroundings affect erasure processes of logical information or modify the design of optimal finite time protocols. In addition, we will construct an unprecedented microscopic engine which – unlike conventional heat engines – is not operated between two heat baths but which is periodically coupled to nonequilibrium baths with different relaxation times. The selection of the examples being pursued within this proposal has been chosen not only to demonstrate the manifold consequences of nonequilibrium baths but also provide possible overlaps beyond the field of soft condensed matter.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITAT KONSTANZ
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 493 593,75
Address
UNIVERSITATSSTRASSE 10
78464 Konstanz
Germany

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Region
Baden-Württemberg Freiburg Konstanz
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 493 593,75

Beneficiaries (1)

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