Veranstaltungsdetails

15.11.2016, 17:00
Jungiusstr. 11, Hörsaal AP

SFB 668 - Kolloquium

Dr. F. Intravaia (Max-Born-Institut, Berlin):

Non-Markovianity in Atom-Surface Interactions

Fluctuation-induced phenomena are manifestations of the (quantum) statistical properties of a physical system. Even if in its state of minimal energy a quantum system, no matter how simple or how complex it is, undergoes a restless dynamics. This leads to a panoply of interactions of which the van der Waals force is best known. The interactions generated by these irreductible fluctuations are relevant in several fields of physics, ranging from atomic physics (cold and ultra-cold atoms’ dynamics) to cosmology (black holes’ and universe’s evolution), including multidisciplinary topics like biophysics (cell membrane’s and proteins’ structure) and modern technologies (NEMS and MEMS). This talk focuses on some recent theoretical and experimental investigations in this field of research. We show that, using the interplay of material properties (e.g. graphene), thermodynamics (e.g. non-equilibrium) and geometry (e.g. nanostructured materials) such interactions are tunable in strength as well as in sign. These results open new avenues for the investigation of fundamental concepts in quantum field theory and condensed-matter physics and can lead to promising multifunctional devices.