Report on Telluride Workshop on Thermodynamics and Nonlinear Dynamics in the Information Age

By Korana Burke
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Thermodynamics and Nonlinear Dynamics in the Information Age, organized by Korana Burke, Sebastian Deffner and Adolfo del Campo, was an interdisciplinary workshop held at Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC) from July 13th to July 17th. The workshop brought together 30 scientists from a variety of fields including Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences, Quantum Information and Quantum Technologies, Statistical Mechanics, Optimal Control Theory, Information Theory and Nonlinear Dynamics. All the talks were held in the historic Telluride Elementary School which was also the original setting for early workshops when TSRC was born in 1984. In those early days the attendees were exposed to the full elementary school experience and had to squeeze into tiny desks and chairs. Luckily that was not the case this summer, so the historic building provided a wonderful backdrop for all the talks. TSRC encourages scientists from different workshops to interact with each other and to encourage this interaction, each week they organize a picnic for all the present scientists as well as a public lecture.

The wide range of the topics presented at the workshop was a reflection of the participants’ diverse scientific interests and backgrounds. The workshop was divided into five themes, one for each day of the duration of the workshop. The opening theme was Information Engines, an old research topic that is recently starting gain a lot more attention. The key question raised on the first day was how systems store, manipulate and dissipate energy while simultaneously generating, storing, losing and transforming information. The second theme, Shortcuts to Adiabaticity, focused on realistically achievable finite-time protocols for achieving (close to) adiabatic limit, while Fluctuation Theorems offered a new perspective on thermodynamics on a quantum-mechanical scale as well a new look at the resolution of the Gibbs paradox. The fourth theme was Nanothermodynamics and Open System, and it provided insight into what happens to systems that are coupled to their environments, as well as experimental observation of a single ion heat engine. The workshop concluded on Friday with Stochastic Processes which provided a perfect bookend to a very engaging week.

The main idea of the workshop was to exchange the ideas between the fields that don’t necessarily get a chance to be present at same conferences. With that in mind, all the talks were held in the morning, which left the afternoons for discussions and hiking. Uncharacteristically to most scientific gatherings, most of the discussions were held outside surrounded by stunning sights of the neighboring mountain peaks. Telluride is a historic mining town located in a box canyon surrounded by San Juan mountains which provided the participants with more or less challenging, but always beautiful hikes. One afternoon, a large group of participants completed a 15 mile hike to Blue Lake passing the Bridal Veil Falls along the way. Aside from being the tallest waterfall in Colorado, Bridal Veil Falls are also the site of the second oldest AC power plant in the world.

Overall, the workshop was a week filled with interesting science and great times on many hiking trails. From the dynamical systems point of view, it was very interesting to see that our field is applicable to even wider than imagined range of scientific topics. Since the workshop was a great success, it is likely that it will return to TSRC in the near future, so please stay tuned for future announcements.

Korana Burke
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