Speaker
Prof.
Angelo Vulpiani
(Dep. of Physics, Universita Sapienza di Roma)
Description
The energy of a finite system thermally connected to a
thermal reservoir may fluctuate, while the temperature is a
constant representing a thermodynamic property of the
reservoir. The finite system can also be used as a
thermometer for the reservoir. From such a perspective the
temperature has an uncertainty, which can be treated within
the framework of estimation theory. We review the main
results of this theory, and clarify some controversial
issues regarding temperature fluctuations. We also offer a
simple example of a thermometer with a small number of
particles. We discuss the relevance of the total observation
time, which must be much longer than the decorrelation time.
In addition some preliminar results on partitioning systems
will be discussed.
Ref.s:
M. Falcioni, D. Villamaina, A. Vulpiani, A. Puglisi and A.
Sarracino
"Estimate of temperature and its uncertainty in small systems"
Am. J. Phys. 79, 777 (2011)
E. DelRe, B. Crosignani, P. Di Porto and S. Di Sabatino
"Built-in reduction of statistical fluctuations of
partitioning objects"
Phys. Rev. E 84, 021112 (2011)