IFISC, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (8-19 September 2014)
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Statistical Physics, which was born as an attempt to explain thermodynamic properties of systems from its atomic and molecular components, has evolved into a solid body of knowledge that allows for the understanding of macroscopic collective phenomena. One of the largest successes of Statistical Physics has been the development of paradigms, stylized simplified models that capture the essential ingredients, for a wide variety of phenomena. These paradigms have allowed not only the understanding of the systems by themselves but also that many apparently different behaviors are just different manifestations of the same collective phenomena. The tools developed by the Statistical Physics together with the Theory of Dynamical Systems are of key importance in the understanding of Complex Systems which are characterized by the emergent and collective phenomena of many interacting units. In particular the understanding of small systems, in which fluctuations are typically large, benefits from Statistical Physics body of knowledge. In addition, small systems fuel the development of new techniques and provide the ground to test predictions at a very deep level.
While the traditional basic body of knowledge of Statistical Physics is well described in textbooks and typically at an undergraduate or master level, the applications to Complex and Small Systems are well beyond the scope of those textbooks. The Summer School on Statistical Physics of Complex and Small Systems series, open to master and PhD students and young postdocs world-wide, aims at bridging this gap.
Following the same spirit and concept of the precedent succesful editions (Palma de Mallorca 2011, 2013 and Benasque 2012) the 4th edition will take place from September 8 to 19, 2014. During these two weeks there will be a total of six courses (three courses per week):
- First week
- Biophysical models for lipid membranes and proteins, by Pedro Tarazona, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
- Theory of coupled oscillator dynamics, by Arkady Pikovsky, University of Potsdam, Germany
- Large-scale transport in oceans: statistical and dynamical systems approaches, by Emilio Hernández-García, IFISC (CSIC-UIB).
- Second week
- Pattern formation: from Turing to nanoscience, by Daniel Walgraef, FNRS (Belgium) and IFISC (CSIC-UIB)
- Dynamics of Flows in Disordered Media, Jordi Ortín, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
- Interactions in complex systems: complex, multilayer and temporal networks, Victor Eguíluz, IFISC (CSIC-UIB)
Courses will include lectures and hands-on sessions. Lectures will be taught in English. Students are welcomed, and encouraged, to present their research.
Besides the main courses the program of the School includes:
- Keynote talk: Active particles and their stochastic modelization, by Lutz Schimansky-Geier, Humboldt Universität, Berlin, Germany
- Tutorials:
- A short introduction to large deviations, by Chris van den Broeck, Universiteit Hasselt, Belgium
- Quantum transport in nanostructures, by David Sánchez, IFISC (UIB-CSIC).
- Seminars:
- Synchronization, correlations and entanglement in quantum oscillator, by Roberta Zambrini IFISC (UIB-CSIC).
- Many-body effects at nanoscale, by Rosa López, IFISC (UIB-CSIC)
- Non-equilibrium growth processes applied to marine ecology, by Tomás Sintes, IFISC (UIB-CSIC).
- Transportation networks: structure, organization and propagation phenomena, by José Javier Ramasco, IFISC (UIB-CSIC).
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of dissipative solitons, by Damià Gomila, IFISC (UIB-CSIC).
There is a registration fee of 100 euros to attend the school. Lunch and coffee breaks on working days for all participants will be covered by the organization. Participants will have to cover the lodging expenses. A special rate has been negotiated with the UIB Student's Residence. The number of participants is limited. Participants are required to attend the full two weeks of duration of the school.
