Ohad Shpielberg (The University of Haifa at Oranim) | Arrhenius Law in Interacting Systems: Unexplored Universalities, Phase Transitions and More Surprises |

Protein unfolding, chemical reactions, and flashing of fireflies are all examples of thermal activation processes. In its most basic form, we will be interested in the escape rate of a particle in a potential trap, due to thermal fluctuations. The Arrhenius law famously captures the escape rate of this problem. For deep traps, Arrhenius law states that the escape rate is universal, independent of the details of the trap. Here, we revisit the escape problem for an interacting system. Unlike the single body case, known for over a century, we will show that the many-body escape problem leads to new universalities, phase transitions, and more surprises.

Recording

Slides

When: January 10, 2024 2:00 PM (Israel Standard Time).

Where: Room 223, Multipurpose Bldg. & over Zoom