Yongjae Oh, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Seoul National University, visited CDSL and gave a seminar on “Stochastic Thermodynamics: Implementing Energy and Entropy into Dynamical Systems.” He is currently conducting research under the supervision of Professor Yongjoo Baek at the Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics Laboratory. His primary research interests include thermodynamics of active matter and information thermodynamics.
He introduced the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics and the theoretical conditions needed to determine whether a system has reached equilibrium or how far it deviates from it. Moving beyond fundamental theory, he explored the advantages and limitations of using thermodynamic principles to describe nonequilibrium systems. As an example, he introduced active matter, a unique class of materials made up of self-propelled particles. These systems exhibit enhanced mechanical properties that can be analyzed through stochastic thermodynamics, offering new insights into energy dissipation and efficiency at microscopic scales.
Finally, he briefly discussed the connection between active matter control problems and modern control theory, suggesting that insights from physics could be applied to optimize the behavior of these dynamic systems.
His presentation provided valuable perspectives on nonequilibrium thermodynamics, stochastic thermodynamics and some inspiration for control theory. We thank for his helpful seminar. We also look forward to future collaborations with Oh and his research group.