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Modern Developments in Thermodynamics

Gordon Research Conference

April 18 - 23, 1999
Chair
Vice Chair
Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco
Via Giovanni Pascoli
Lucca (Barga), Lucca, Italy
 Venue and Travel Information

Conference Program

Sunday

14:00-18:00 Registration
18:00 Dinner
20:00 Welcome
20:15 Engineering design
(chair: Adrian Bejan, Duke University)
20:15-20:25 Chair's introduction
20:25-20:50 Signe Kjelstrup (Norwegian University of Science and Technology): 
Reactor design with optimal distribution of forces
20:50-21:05 Discussion
21:05-21:30 Joseph L. Smith (MIT): 
Thermodynamic design at low temperatures 
21:30-21:45 Discussion
21:45-22:10 J. de Swaan Arons (Delft University of Technology): 
Thermodynamics: Key discipline in the design of a sustainable society 
22:10-22:25 Discussion
22:25-22:30 Chair's closing remarks

Monday

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Thermodynamics of computation
(chair: Paul Benioff, Argonne National Laboratory)
9:00-9:10 Chair's introduction
9:10-9:35 Neil Gershenfeld (MIT): 
Manipulating quantum information in thermodynamic ensembles 
9:35-9:50 Discussion
9:50-10:15 Carlton Caves (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque): 
Unpredictability, information, and chaos 
10:15-10:30 Discussion
10:30-11:05 Coffee + conference picture
11:05-11:30 Charles Bennett (IBM Watson Research Center): 
Entanglement and irreversibility 
11:30-11:45 Discussion
11:45-12:10 Seth Lloyd (MIT): 
Ultimate physical limits to computation 
12:10-12:25 Discussion
12:25-12:30 Chair's closing remarks
12:45 Lunch
17:00 Coffee
17:15 Thermodynamics of complexity
(chair: Seth Lloyd, MIT)
17:15-17:25 Chair's introduction
17:25-17:55 Murray Gell-Mann (University of New Mexico & Santa Fe Institute):
Entropy and information in complex systems
17:55-18:10 Discussion
18:10-18:40 Constantino Tsallis (Center for Physics Research, Brazil): 
Non-extensive statistical mechanics: Recent experimental and computational evidence 
18:40-18:55 Discussion
18:55-19:25  Cristian Micheletti (SISSA, Trieste):
Protein structures and optimal folding emerging from a geometrical variational principle
19:25-19:40 Discussion
19:40-19:45 Chair's closing remarks
20:15 Dinner
21:30 Posters

Tuesday

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Exergy analysis today and tomorrow
(chair: Enrico Sciubba, University of Rome 1)
9:00-9:10 Chair's introduction
9:10-9:40 Yehia El-Sayed (Advanced Energy Systems): 
Exergy-assisted analysis: From single components to complex processes 
9:40-9:55 Discussion
9:55-10:25 Dominick Sama (University of Massachusetts, Lowell): 
Exergy analysis vs. pinch method as a design and conceptual optimization tool
10:25-10:40 Discussion
10:40-10:55 Coffee
10:55-11:25 Göran Wall (independent consultant): 
Global exergy analysis of societal systems 
11:25-11:40 Discussion
11:40-12:10 Antonio Valero (Center for Research on Power Plant Efficiency, Spain): 
Quantifying irreversibilities through Second Law: Exergy accounting 
12:10-12:25 Discussion
12:25-12:30 Chair's closing remarks
12:45 Lunch
17:00 Coffee
17:15 Thermodynamic optimization in naturally organized systems
(chair: Christian Beck, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London)
17:15-17:20 Chair's introduction
17:20-17:45 Itamar Procaccia (Weizmann Institute, Israel): 
The thermodynamic formalism of multifractals and the universal statistics of turbulence
17:45-17:55 Discussion
17:55-18:20 Tamas Tel (University of Budapest): 
Transport and entropy production from chaotic maps 
18:20-18:30 Discussion
18:30-18:55 Boye Ahlborn (University of British Columbia): 
How animals optimize their use of energy and power
18:55-19:05 Discussion
19:05-19:30 Adrian Bejan (Duke University): 
Shape and structure in engineering  and nature: Constructal theory
19:30-19:40 Discussion
19:40-19:45 Chair's closing remarks
20:15 Dinner

Wednesday

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Quantum statistical mechanics and surface kinetics
(chair: Charles Ward, University of Toronto)
9:00-9:10 Chair's introduction
9:10-9:40 Klaus Christmann (Free University, Berlin): 
Thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorbed systems as probed by thermal desorption spectroscopy 
9:40-9:55 Discussion
9:55-10:25 Edmund Seebauer (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana): 
Interpreting variations in pre-exponential factors for desorption 
10:25-10:40 Discussion
10:40-10:55 Coffee
10:55-11:25 H. Jürgen Kreuzer (Dalhousie University): 
Theories of adsorption-desorption kinetics and surface diffusion 
11:25-11:40 Discussion
11:40-12:10 Janet Elliott (University of Alberta): 
The statistical rate theory approach to surface kinetics 
12:10-12:25 Discussion
12:25-12:30 Chair's closing remarks
12:45 Lunch
17:00 Coffee
17:15 Thermodynamics in economics
(chair: Bengt Månsson, Karlstad University)
17:15-17:25 Chair's introduction
17:25-17:55 Robert U. Ayres (INSEAD, Paris): 
Technical/industrial perspectives on thermodynamics in economics 
17:55-18:10 Discussion
18:10-18:40 Stefan Baumgärtner (University of Heidelberg): 
Thermodynamics and modeling production in economics: The concept of joint production 
18:40-18:55 Discussion
18:55-19:25 Thomas Bruckner (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research): 
Energy and cost optimization in integrated energy-supply systems 
19:25-19:40 Discussion
19:40-19:45 Chair's closing remarks
20:15 Dinner

Thursday

7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Thermodynamics of phase change and phase equilibrium in small systems
(chair: R. Stephen Berry, University of Chicago)
9:00-9:10 Chair's introduction
9:10-9:40 David Wales (Cambridge University): 
Analytic approaches to analogues of first-order transitions 
9:40-9:55 Discussion
9:55-10:25 Ana Proykova (University of Sofia): 
Analogues of second-order transitions 
10:25-10:40 Discussion
10:40-10:55 Coffee
10:55-11:25 Hellmut Haberland (University of Freiburg): 
Experiments on phase changes in isolated clusters of hundreds of atoms 
11:25-11:40 Discussion
11:40-12:10 Matti Manninen (University of Jyväskylä): 
Simulation of phase transitions in small systems 
12:10-12:25 Discussion
12:25-12:30 Chair's closing remarks
12:45 Lunch
17:00 Coffee
17:00 Session chairs' meeting
17:15-17:45 Business meeting
17:45-18:30 Special interest talks
18:30-19:40 Panel discussion
19:40-19:45 Chair's closing remarks
20:15 Dinner

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