Statistical Mechanics Study Group

Summer 2009

Time:  Thursdays of "odd" weeks at 5pm (unless otherwise indicated)
Location:  Maths Room 513

General Idea: The aim of these meetings is to provide a forum to discuss both our own work and other recent (or not-so-recent) developments in statistical mechanics. This is intended to be a "study group" not a "seminar" – speakers are asked to proceed slowly and audience participation is actively encouraged. After each talk there is also the opportunity for further informal discussions in more relaxed surroundings.

Schedule: The list below gives a provisional outline of talks planned for this semester. Please note, however, that our schedule is fairly flexible to allow for the evolving interests of the group. As term progresses, the titles will be updated to link to any relevant resources (abstract, notes/slides, references etc.).

Organizer: Rosemary Harris; if you want to be on the group's mailing list, or perhaps want to give a talk yourself, please email me at

Date	Speaker	Title
14 May 4pm	Geoffrey Sewell (QMUL)	Relativistic Statistical Thermodynamics of Moving Bodies
postponed to 4 June	Rui Carvalho (QMUL)	Robustness of Trans-European Gas Networks: The Hot Backbone
1 June (joint with DSSP seminar) 4pm, Room 203	Leonid Bunimovich (Georiga Tech.)	Where to place a hole to achieve a maximal escape rate
23 June 4pm, Room 203	Lamberto Rondoni (Torino)	The physics of irreversible phenomena
25 June 4pm, Room 203	Lamberto Rondoni (Torino)	Deterministic thermostats and fluctuation relations
30 June 4pm, Room 203	Georgie Knight (QMUL)	Linear and fractal diffusion coefficients for a family of shifted, one-dimensional maps
2 July 4pm, Room 203	Erik Van der Straeten (Torino)	Superstatistics: From utopia to the real world