(Lecture) Onsager variational principle and its application in soft matter systems

Topic: Onsager variational principle and its application in soft matter systems

Speaker: Dr. Jiajia Zhou (Beihang University)

Time: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, 10:00

Venue: Room 324, Building No.2, Science Park, Wushan Campus

Abstract

In his celebrated paper on the reciprocal relation (Phys. Rev. 37, 405, 1931), Onsager extended Rayleigh’s principle of the least energy dissipation to general irreversible processes. In this talk, I will give a brief introduction to this variational principle, which provides a convenient framework for deriving dynamical equations of non-equilibrium phenomena in soft matter. Three examples will be discussed: (1) capillary filling in a tube. (2) stratification of binary colloidal solution under evaporation. (3) beads-on-string structure formation of viscoelastic filaments. I hope to show that Onsager variational principle can be regarded as a solid general basis for the dynamics of soft matter systems.

Biography

Jiajia Zhou received his BSc in physics from Peking University in 2002. He then went to Canada and finished his PhD in physics from McMaster University in 2010, under the supervision of Prof. An-Chang Shi. He is a postdoctoral researcher from 2011 to 2015 at University Mainz in Germany with Prof. Friederike Schmid. He joined Beihang University as an Associate Professor in 2015. His research focuses on theoretical modelling and computer simulation of soft matter systems.

Announced by South China advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology