SciLux podcast – Massimiliano Esposito and Emanuele Penocchio on Thermodynamics

26 March 2024

Thermodynamics and Chemical Engines

Massimiliano Esposito is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Luxembourg. He is heading the Complex Systems and Statistical Mechanics research group in the Department of Physics and Materials Science.

Emanuele Penocchio was part of the research group and is now occupying a postdoctoral position at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Thermodynamics is a two-century-old theory used to study energy flows and energy conversion throughout the natural sciences to study energy flows and energy conversion. However, this theory can’t be used or is insufficient for many complex systems, such as living systems, ecosystems, power grids, information and telecommunication networks. In this context, how to formulate a thermodynamics of complex systems remains largely unknown and is one of our main goals.

Listen to Prof Massimiliano Esposito and Dr Emanuele Penocchio as they talk about their research into a thermodynamic theory that describes energy conversion and information processing in synthetic or biological systems that are far from equilibrium.

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Outstanding researchers

Massimiliano Esposito and Emmanuele Penocchio are both internationally recognised researchers who have received several awards and prestigious grants.

Prof. Esposito received an ERC grant for a project on a new theory of thermodynamics to describe the microscopic world. He was previously awarded an ATTRACT grant from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR).

Information is not power, but above all, energy

Emmanuele Penocchio’s thesis ‘Thermodynamics of Chemical Engines: A Chemical Reaction Network Approach’ describes molecular processes from a thermodynamic perspective, something that has never been done before. He was also awarded the Rolph Tarrach Prize by the University of Luxembourg for his thesis work.

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