Universität Stuttgart

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/1

Browse

Filters

Settings

End date: 2023Institute: search.filters.UBSInstitut.Institut für Theoretische Physik II

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 50
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Funktionalmethoden und Abbildungen dissipativer Quantensysteme
    (2007) Baur, Holger; Weiß, Ulrich (Prof. Dr.)
    Im ersten Abschnitt dieser Arbeit versuchen wir, die algebraische Struktur, welche im Rahmen der dissipativen Quantenmechanik unter Verwendung des Influenzfunktionals auftritt, herauszuarbeiten. Dies erlaubt uns einen tieferen Einblick in ansonsten unübersichtliche und langwierige Rechenschritte, speziell im Realzeitformalismus, und ermöglicht uns eine leichtere Identifikation der dabei auftretenden Terme und deren Ursprung aus dem zugrunde liegenden Modell als auch deren physikalische Bedeutung. Die verwendeten Methoden haben wir soweit als möglich in konsistenter und anschaulicher Form eingeführt, so dass diese Arbeit ohne spezielle Kenntnis des Gebietes der dissipativen Quantenmechanik gelesen werden kann. Besonderen Wert haben wir auf den Übergang von der quantenmechanischen auf die klassische Beschreibung von dissipativen Vorgängen gelegt, da ein Verständnis dieses Übergangs eine tiefere Einsicht in den Messprozess liefert. In der selben Weise ist damit auch der Übergang von der mikroskopischen - durch die Quantenmechanik beschriebenen - Welt in die makroskopische Welt verbunden, welche den Gesetzen der klassischen Mechanik folgt. Zusätzlich zeigen wir, wie die Resultate der Influenzfunktionalmethode stochastisch interpretiert werden können, was einen leichteren Vergleich mit der bekannten quantenmechanischen Zeitentwicklung durch die Schrödingergleichung erlaubt. Im weiteren betrachten wir die sogenannte Tight-Binding Näherung von Modellen, bei welchen sich der Hamiltonraum für die Systembeschreibung im wesentlichen durch diskrete Eigenzustände des Ortsoperators ausdrücken lässt und Übergänge zwischen diesen Zuständen unterdrückt sind, wodurch eine Propagation entweder durch ein Tunneln oder durch thermische Anregung erfolgt. Im Rahmen der dissipativen Quantenmechanik bringt diese Methode eine immense Vereinfachung in der effektiven Beschreibung des Systems, da Anstelle einer ganzen Historie von Systempfaden nur noch die Übergangszeiten mit den entsprechenden Übergängen berücksichtigt werden müssen. Im Bild des Pfadintegralformalismus bedeutet dies, dass Anstelle des Integrals über alle Systempfade ein Produkt von Integrationen über alle möglichen Sprungzeiten mit Sprunggewichten entsprechend des Übergangs rückt, welches analytisch als auch numerisch wesentlich einfacher handzuhaben ist. Innerhalb dieser Näherung wurden dadurch in der Vergangenheit viele beeindruckende analytische Resultate abgeleitet. Darüber hinaus beschäftigen wir uns mit der Abbildung und dem Zusammenhang von dissipativen Modellen mit Feldmodellen aus der Quantenfeldtheorie und im besonderen der Feldtheorie statistischer Systeme. Der Reiz dieser Abbildungen liegt besonders darin, dass in den letztgenannten Gebieten schon seit Jahrzehnten sehr intensiv die grundlegenden Modelle bearbeitet wurden und vor allem auch nach neuen Methoden gesucht und Forschung dafür betrieben wurde und noch immer Gegenstand der aktuellen Forschung darstellt. Als Beispiel sei in zwei Dimensionen die Invarianz unter konformen Abbildungen genannt, welche immer dann Anwendung findet, wenn Systeme nur lokal wechselwirken und eine Invarianz unter lokaler Umskalierung der Felder zeigen. Bei statistischen Systemen mit lokaler Wechselwirkung zeigt sich dieses Verhalten immer beim Erreichen eines kritischen Punktes, da hier per Definition keine Längenskala ausgezeichnet ist. In zwei Dimensionen führt dies zu einer immensen Einschränkung der möglichen Form von Korrelationsfunktionen und hat zu dem eigenständigen Gebiet der Konformen Feldtheorie geführt, da konforme Abbildungen per Definition die lokale Struktur erhalten (Winkeltreue) und lokal nur zu einer Unskalierung führen. Während in D>2 Dimensionen nur endlich viele Generatoren für konforme Abbildungen existieren, ist deren Anzahl in 2 Dimensionen unendlich. Dies resultiert in einer unendlichen Anzahl von lokalen Erhaltungsgrößen mit den entsprechenden Folgen. Während solche Techniken sehr schnell unanschaulich werden, erlaubt die Abbildung auf dissipative Modelle hier oftmals eine sehr anschauliche Interpretation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Modellierung der Adhäsion und Deformation von Mikrokapseln
    (2007) Graf, Peter; Seifert, Udo (Prof. Dr.)
    Mikrokapseln spielen eine wichtige Rolle beim Einschluß und der kontrollierten Freisetzung von Substanzen sowohl in industriellen Anwendungen als auch in der Medizin und den Biowissenschaften. Sie dienen ebenso als Modellsysteme für biologische Objekte wie Zellen oder Viruskapseln. Bei vielen dieser Anwendungen sind gute Kenntnisse über die mechanischen Eigenschaften nötig. Typischerweise wird die Kapsel zu diesem Zweck verformt und die dazu benötigten Kräfte werden gemessen. Die Deformation kann auf verschiedene Arten hervorgerufen werden, z. B. durch Adhäsion, äußere Kräfte oder Druckunterschiede zwischen der Innen- und Außenseite der Kapsel. In Experimenten wurde der Adhäsionsradius der Kapsel oder die zum Zusammendrücken der Kapsel benötigte Kraft gemessen. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird die Adhäsion von Mikrokapseln und die Deformation durch äußere Kräfte auf theoretischem Wege untersucht. Es wird mit Mitteln der Elastizitätstheorie ein Modell entwickelt, mit dem sich die Deformation der Kapsel in Abhängigkeit von den angreifenden Kräften beschreiben läßt. In einer systematischen Untersuchung werden die Vorhersagen des Modells mit experimentellen Daten verglichen, um daraus die elastischen Parameter zu extrahieren.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Towards an underdamped thermodynamic uncertainty relation
    (2020) Fischer, Lukas P.; Seifert, Udo (Prof. Dr.)
    A recent result of stochastic thermodynamics is the so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR). This relation, appearing in the form of an inequality, bounds the precision of fluctuating currents by the entropic costs that are required to drive the non-vanishing mean of the observable. As a consequence, the relation enables the access to parameters that are not accessible in an experimental setting via the precision of a experimentally accessible observable. For instance, it was possible to bound the efficiency of molecular machines by means of their measurable moments of motion. Albeit being generalized and modified to more general terms and dynamics, the putative generalization of the thermodynamic uncertainty relation to underdamped dynamics where the inertia is not negligible remains a puzzling problem. Although there are convincing indications for the overdamped TUR being valid for underdamped dynamics as well in some systems, a straightforward application can also lead to violations of the bound. This thesis summarizes the efforts towards an underdamped generalization of the thermodynamic uncertainty relation and shows challenges and chances that come along by generalization of the TUR. To this end, the intriguing limitations of the TUR in the underdamped domain are explored and discussed. For instance, the TUR is inherently broken for finite times where the evolution is governed by ballistic dynamics due to the inertia being present. Furthermore, it is possible to improve the precision beyond the overdamped bound in presence of velocity dependent forces such as the Lorentz force induced by a magnetic field. Beyond the limitations of the TUR in the underdamped regime, this thesis gives a thorough analysis of the proof that leads to the TUR in the overdamped regime and discusses the obstacles which have to be overcome to find the sought-after proof that is valid for underdamped dynamics. The method is illustrated by deriving thermodynamic bounds that are, however, not as transparent and often not as tight as the original TUR. Finally, a conjecture for a generalized TUR is presented which is based on the precision of free diffusion and holds for all times. The corresponding bound converges to the overdamped TUR in the appropriate limit and tightly bounds the precision, even in the ballistic regime. Being based on free diffusion this conjecture also puts the interpretation of the original TUR in a different perspective.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Thermodynamic inference in partially accessible Markov networks: a unifying perspective from transition-based waiting time distributions
    (2022) Meer, Jann van der; Ertel, Benjamin; Seifert, Udo
    The inference of thermodynamic quantities from the description of an only partially accessible physical system is a central challenge in stochastic thermodynamics. A common approach is coarse-graining, which maps the dynamics of such a system to a reduced effective one. While coarse-graining states of the system into compound ones is a well-studied concept, recent evidence hints at a complementary description by considering observable transitions and waiting times. In this work, we consider waiting time distributions between two consecutive transitions of a partially observable Markov network. We formulate an entropy estimator using their ratios to quantify irreversibility. Depending on the complexity of the underlying network, we formulate criteria to infer whether the entropy estimator recovers the full physical entropy production or whether it just provides a lower bound that improves on established results. This conceptual approach, which is based on the irreversibility of underlying cycles, additionally enables us to derive estimators for the topology of the network, i.e., the presence of a hidden cycle, its number of states, and its driving affinity. Adopting an equivalent semi-Markov description, our results can be condensed into a fluctuation theorem for the corresponding semi-Markov process. This mathematical perspective provides a unifying framework for the entropy estimators considered here and established earlier ones. The crucial role of the correct version of time reversal helps to clarify a recent debate on the meaning of formal versus physical irreversibility. Extensive numerical calculations based on a direct evaluation of waiting time distributions illustrate our exact results and provide an estimate on the quality of the bounds for affinities of hidden cycles.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Focus on stochastic thermodynamics
    (2016) Broeck, Christian Van den; Sasa, Shin-ichi; Seifert, Udo
    We introduce the thirty papers collected in this ‘focus on’ issue. The contributions explore conceptual issues within and around stochastic thermodynamics, use this framework for the theoretical modeling and experimental investigation of specific systems, and provide further perspectives on and for this active field.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Multiscale approaches to protein-mediated interactions between membranes : relating microscopic and macroscopic dynamics in radially growing adhesions
    (2015) Bihr, Timo; Seifert, Udo; Smith, Ana-Sunčana
    Macromolecular complexation leading to coupling of two or more cellular membranes is a crucial step in a number of biological functions of the cell. While other mechanisms may also play a role, adhesion always involves the fluctuations of deformable membranes, the diffusion of proteins and the molecular binding and unbinding. Because these stochastic processes couple over a multitude of time and length scales, theoretical modeling of membrane adhesion has been a major challenge. Here we present an effective Monte Carlo scheme within which the effects of the membrane are integrated into local rates for molecular recognition. The latter step in the Monte Carlo approach enables us to simulate the nucleation and growth of adhesion domains within a system of the size of a cell for tens of seconds without loss of accuracy, as shown by comparison to 106 times more expensive Langevin simulations. To perform this validation, the Langevin approach was augmented to simulate diffusion of proteins explicitly, together with reaction kinetics and membrane dynamics. We use the Monte Carlo scheme to gain deeper insight to the experimentally observed radial growth of micron sized adhesion domains, and connect the effective rate with which the domain is growing to the underlying microscopic events. We thus demonstrate that our technique yields detailed information about protein transport and complexation in membranes, which is a fundamental step toward understanding even more complex membrane interactions in the cellular context.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Efficiencies of a molecular motor : a generic hybrid model applied to the F1-ATPase
    (2012) Zimmermann, Eva; Seifert, Udo
    In a single-molecule assay, the motion of a molecular motor is often inferred by measuring the stochastic trajectory of a large probe particle attached to it. We discuss a simple model for this generic setup taking into account explicitly the elastic coupling between the probe and the motor. The combined dynamics consists of discrete steps of the motor and the continuous Brownian motion of the probe. Motivated by recent experiments on the F1-ATPase, we investigated three types of efficiencies both in simulations and in a Gaussian approximation. Overall, we obtained good quantitative agreement with the experimental data. In particular, we clarify the conditions under which one of these efficiencies becomes larger than 1.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Optimal processes in stochastic thermodynamics
    (2009) Schmiedl, Tim; Seifert, Udo (Prof. Dr.)
    The concept of Stochastic Thermodynamics deals with the question how to define thermodynamic quantities for nonequilibrium mesoscopic systems. Here, thermal fluctuations must be considered. The main objective of this thesis is the analysis of optimization problems in the context of Stochastic Thermodynamcis. A quite natural optimization principle for nonequilibrium processes is the requirement that a defined result should be achieved with the smallest possible amount of dissipation. For a transition between two given equilibrium states in a given finite time, this is directly linked to a process schedule which leads to a minimal (mean) work. For systems in an externally controllable time-dependent potential, the optimal protocol minimizes the mean work spent in a finite-time transition between two given equilibrium states. Surprisingly, the optimal protocol involves jumps for overdamped Langevin dynamics and even delta-type singularities for underdamped Langevin dynamics. For purely Hamiltonian and Schrödinger dynamics in harmonic potentials, we show that the optimal protocol is highly degenerate and that even in the limit of short transition times, the optimal work is given by the adiabatic work which is substantially smaller than the work for an instantaneous jump. These optimal protocols significantly improve free energy calculations via the Jarzynski equality. Most processes in the biological cell, however, cannot be described by a nonequilibrium transition between equilibrium states. Rather, these systems are permanently driven out of equilibrium, e.g. by chemical potential differences. An important model class of such dynamics are Brownian motors which transfer either chemical or thermal energy into mechanical work leading to directed transport against a load force. It is meaningful to characterize such thermodynamic machines by their performance at maximum power output rather than at maximum efficiency. The efficiency at this maximum power then is a relevant quantity. We consider a Carnot engine on the mesoscale which can be constructed by using a Brownian particle instead of the working gas and a time-dependent trapping potential instead of the confining vessel. The efficiency at maximum power output can be calculated analytically. Surprisingly, it is given by a quite universal expression which does only depend on the viscosity (or more generally on the mobility matrices) at the two temperatures. This result is independent of the shape of the potential used to trap the particle. In contrast to heat engines, molecular motors in the biological cell are mostly driven by chemical potential differences. For two simple motor models, the efficiency of the molecular motor at maximum power shows two unexpected features: (i) Both the power output and the efficiency increase when the transition state position is moved closer to the initial motor position and (ii) for appropriate parameters, the efficiency increases when the system is driven further out of equilibrium by a higher chemical potential difference. Beyond their relevance for directed transport within the cell, molecular motors are also important for the synthesis of proteins. We study the protein production rate at a given error rate for the second stage of gene expression (translation). We find that for a given error rate equivalent to the experimentally observed value, the protein production rate is not at its theoretical maximum. We therefore conjecture that other evolutionary goals or structural reasons are responsible for the observed rate constants.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Extreme fluctuations of active Brownian motion
    (2016) Pietzonka, Patrick; Kleinbeck, Kevin; Seifert, Udo
    In active Brownian motion, an internal propulsion mechanism interacts with translational and rotational thermal noise and other internal fluctuations to produce directed motion. We derive the distribution of its extreme fluctuations and identify its universal properties using large deviation theory. The limits of slow and fast internal dynamics give rise to a kink-like and parabolic behavior of the corresponding rate functions, respectively. For dipolar Janus particles in two- and three-dimensions interacting with a field, we predict a novel symmetry akin to, but different from, the one related to entropy production. Measurements of these extreme fluctuations could thus be used to infer properties of the underlying, often hidden, network of states.