Robert W. Zwanzig: Formulated nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Robert W. Zwanzig: Formulated nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.

Robert (“Bob”) Zwanzig died on May 15 this year at the age of 86. He had been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1972. He is survived by Frances, his wife of 60 years, a daughter, Elizabeth Bennett, and a son, Carl. Frances writes that Bob “was a baker of bread and of made-from-scratch pizza, a maker of dry martinis and hearty soups, an ice dancer, and a walker along the Chesape...

Stationary nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Systems in stationary nonequilibrium are mechanical systems subject to nonconservative external forces and to thermostat forces which forbid indefinite increase of the energy and allow reaching statistically stationary states. A system Σ is described by the positions and velocities of its n particles X, Ẋ, with the particles positions confined to a finite volume container C0. If X = (x1, . . .,...

Currents in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics.

Nonzero currents characterize the nonequilibrium state in stochastic dynamics (or master equation) models of natural systems. In such models there is a matrix R of transition probabilities connecting the states of the system. We show that if the strength of a transition increases, so does the current along the corresponding bond. We also address the inverse problem: given a set of observed curr...

Elements of Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics

Dynamical Chaos and Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics

Chaos in the motion of atoms and molecules composing fluids is a new topic in nonequilibrium physics. Relationships have been established between the characteristic quantities of chaos and the transport coefficients thanks to the concept of fractal repeller and the escape-rate formalism. Moreover, the hydrodynamic modes of relaxation to the thermodynamic equilibrium as well as the nonequilibriu...