Bounding Nonequilibrium Response: From Biochemical Sensitivity to Transport in Active Fluids

Speaker: Dr. Jordan Horowitz, University of Michigan

Host: Dr. Pratyush Tiwary, UMCP

Abstract: Diverse physical systems are characterized by their response to small perturbations. Near thermodynamic equilibrium, the fluctuation-dissipation theorem provides a powerful theoretical and experimental tool. Its great utility near equilibrium has led to significant interest in expanding its validity and developing generalizations for nonequilibrium situations. In this talk, I will introduce a novel parameterization of response that allows us to derive equalities and inequalities that quantitatively capture the limits to far-from-equilibrium response. As illustrations, I will show how these predictions rationalize known energetic requirements for some biochemical motifs and provide new limits to others. I will also demonstrate how these predictions can be used to derive Green-Kubo relations for the transport coefficients that enter hydrodynamic descriptions of active fluids. 

Statistical Physics Seminar