Alan Farhan
Baylor University, TX·Physics
The second law of thermodynamics says that disorder, or entropy, tends to increase. In very small systems observed over very short times, however, random fluctuations can briefly make processes seem to run backward.
- Fields
Physics
Materials Science
- Topics
artificial spin ice
nanomagnets
frustrated magnetism
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2028
What they work on
- Test fluctuation theorems by building the time-integrated dissipation function from measured magnetic microstates and comparing forward and reverse trajectory probabilities in thermally active artificial spin ice.
- Measure the frequency, size and duration of apparent second-law violations in nanomagnet arrays driven out of equilibrium by thermal and magnetic stimuli, using real-space synchrotron magnetic imaging.
- Determine how system size, interaction strength and geometric frustration shape irreversibility and energy dissipation, combining nanofabricated arrays with theoretical modeling.
More about the research
Theories called fluctuation theorems predict how often this should happen. Yet testing them in complex systems of many interacting parts has been hard, because researchers cannot directly watch the tiny motions involved. This matters for nanoscale technologies such as molecular machines, nanobatteries and biological motors, which work in this regime.
Why it matters
Experimental tests of fluctuation theorems in interacting systems add basic understanding of how energy flows and dissipates at the nanoscale. This could eventually inform the design of nanoscale devices such as molecular machines, nanobatteries and biological motors, which operate where classical thermodynamics no longer fully applies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Yiwei Wang
University of California-Riverside, CA·Mathematics & Statistics
Develop high-order variational Lagrangian schemes, which track moving parcels of material, for generalized diffusion models, built directly from the energy and dissipation description of the fluid.
Jian Liu
University of Tennessee-Knoxville, TN·Physics·Early-career
Grow atomically thin iridium oxide layers by in-situ-monitored pulsed-laser deposition, designed so that spin-orbit coupling tilts the spins while overall spin symmetry is kept.
Julius De Rojas
Oklahoma State University, OK·Physics
Establish how voltage-driven migration of oxygen and lithium ions (magneto-ionics) changes spin-wave behavior in magnetic thin films, producing large changes that persist without power, measured with Brillouin light scattering and ferromagnetic resonance.
The school
Baylor University: 5 labs on PI Pages, $135M a year on research, 280 research doctorates a year.
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