John Goold
(Trinity College)

The Mpemba effect is the counterintuitive phenomenon where a hotter system cools faster than a colder one. First observed in the freezing of water and discussed since the time of Aristotle, it has recently experienced a resurgence of interest, especially with the development of a robust  theoretical formalism in classical stochastic systems. Quantum versions of the effect have been explored in both isolated and open-system settings in theory and in experiment, yet a unified understanding has remained elusive. In this talk, I will draw on tools from non-equilibrium thermodynamics and quantum information theory to classify the different Mpemba-like effects through the lenses of asymmetry, non-equilibrium resource theories, and athermality. By introducing these concepts at an accessible level, I will show how a unified framework, based on the decomposition of non-equilibrium free energy, reveals interesting connections and common thermodynamic principles underlying these anomalous relaxation phenomena.
 

Zoom registration link:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/40aMMss5QkWiCKoOrH2Fow