Professor ZHOU Jiajia presented his theoretical research on the application of Onsager variational principle in soft matter systems

In 29th September, 2018，we are pleased for inviting professor ZHOU Jiajia who comes from Beihang University. Zhou reported an academic report named “Onsager variational principle and its application in soft matter systems” which mainly revealed the importance of Onsager relationship and it’s application in soft matter research.

In a classic and well-known paper on reciprocal relations, Onsager and Rayleigh proposed a broader principle of minimum energy dissipation, known as the Onsager variational principle. During this report, Professor Zhou first briefly introduced the concept of Onsager's variational principle, which is considered to provide a convenient framework for deriving the dynamic process of non-equilibrium in soft matter science. Subsequently, he explained the applications of Onsager variational principle in detail by using three examples: “capillary rising”, “evaporation-induced stratification” and “beads-on-string”.

Professor Zhou’s research focuses on the theory and computer simulation of soft matter, that, by establishing mathematical models or describing models of research objects one could embody and test the models on computers to reveal the nature of experiments. This research method expands the research region of classical or analytical mathematics and improves our understandings of complex systems, which also explained the importance of analytic functions in description of real experiments.

Professor Zhou’s report attracted all the eyes by using study cases full of interests and vivid images, which leads the live discussion to the climax again and again. Applaud to Professor Zhou!

Source from South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology