Statistical Mechanics
Fluctuation theorems (FTs) quantify the thermodynamic reversibility of a system, and for deterministic systems they are defined in terms of the dissipation function. However, in a nonequilibrium steady state of deterministic dynamics, the…
Chiral active matter, which breaks both parity symmetry and time-reversal symmetry, is ubiquitous in living systems. Here, we introduce a minimal two-dimensional chiral active lattice gas by incorporating stochastic, biased local rotations.…
Thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs) impose a universal trade-off between current precision and entropy production in autonomous steady states, constraining in particular the power, efficiency, and constancy of heat engines. We…
Thermal machines are physical systems that, when fueled by input energy, perform output tasks such as heat pumping or the production of work. Their performance is characterized with several, often competing quantities, such as power,…
Cellular metabolic networks exhibit scale-free topologies with power-law degree distributions across diverse organisms. Although such topologies are often linked to mutational robustness and evolutionary advantage, their role in metabolic…
A novel paradigm for sorting is introduced, based upon resetting. Using simple examples, we demonstrate that sorting is achieved by resetting the velocity component(s) or orientation of the particles, rather than position. The objects to be…
Self-interacting jump processes (SIJPs) describe systems with non-Markovian stochastic dynamics in which transition rates depend on empirical observables of the process, which gives rise to long-range memory and feedback. We derive the…
We study dynamics in classical spin ice following a magnetic field quench to close to the Kasteleyn transition, using Monte Carlo simulations and dynamic scaling theory to characterize the relaxation of the magnetization and the density of…
We study a so-called semi-ergodic brickwork dual-unitary circuits where, in the infinite volume limit, the two-point correlation functions of single-site operators exhibit ergodic behavior along one light ray and non-ergodic behavior along…
Adaptive physical and biological systems continually process fluctuating information from their environments. When the environment is nonstationary, inference itself becomes a nonequilibrium process with thermodynamic cost. We analyse a…
Collective synchronization is often summarized by a complex order parameter $R e^{i\Psi}$, implicitly treating the global phase $\Psi$ as a meaningful macroscopic coordinate. Here we ask when $\Psi$ becomes \emph{operationally well-defined}…
Thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs) provide fundamental constraints on the interplay between power fluctuations, entropy production, and efficiency in overdamped stationary autonomous heat engines. However, their validity in…
Time-reversal (TR) symmetry is crucial for understanding a wide range of physical phenomena, and plays a key role in constraining fundamental particle interactions and in classifying phases of quantum matter. In this work, we introduce an…
Systems driven far from equilibrium may exhibit anomalous density fluctuations: active matter with orientational order display giant density fluctuations at large scale, while systems of interacting particles close to an absorbing phase…
We revisit the approach to the lower critical dimension $d_{\rm lc}$ in the Ising-like $\varphi^4$ theory within the functional renormalization group by studying the lowest approximation levels in the derivative expansion of the effective…
We study non-equilibrium steady states and recurrence times in noisy, stroboscopically monitored qubit systems using complete measurements. In the noiseless limit, recurrence times are integer-quantized, with dips to lower integers when…
Understanding the role of inertia in nanoscale heat transport is fundamental to the design of efficient nano-thermodynamics systems. In this work, we experimentally address the non-equilibrium dynamics of a Brownian gyrator, a paradigmatic…
These notes are based on lectures delivered by G. Schehr at the XVIth School on Fundamental Problems in Statistical Physics (FPSP), held in Oropa (Italy) from 30 June to 11 July 2025. After a brief introduction to extreme value statistics…
We algebraically prove the asymmetry in thermal relaxation in phase space in the entire range from overdamped dynamics to underdamped dynamics. We show that for the same setup as for overdamped dynamics, even in the more general case of…
We investigate the stochastic dynamics of a quasiparticle within a gas of hard rods, focusing on the evolution of its mean, variance, and autocorrelation for two choices of initial states: (i) one with long-range (LR) correlations and (ii)…