Category: research

Group members

• Massimiliano Esposito (Principal Investigator)

• MP (Reseacher)

• Alexandre Lazarescu (PostDoc)

• Bernhard Altaner (PostDoc)

• Philipp Strasberg (PostDoc)

• Juzar Thingna (PostDoc)

• Gregory Bulnes Cuetara (PostDoc)

• Tim Herpich (Ph. D)

• Artur Wachtel (Ph. D)

• Riccardo Rao (Ph. D)

• Kamran Shayanfard (Ph. D)

• Tommaso Cossetto (Ph. D)

by tomate

Chemical networks

Today, high-throughput technologies allow to draft the huge chemical networks regulating cellular metabolism, gene expression, and signalling pathways. Navigating into these data is an excruciating task. We believe that thermodynamic constraints might help analyze and interpret the functioning of Chemical Networks. We have two major lines of research.

On the one side, we work with the Chemical Master Equation to analyze the stochastic dynamics and thermodynamics and relate it to topological properties of the network, such as the concept of its deficiency:

MP, A. Wachtel and M. Esposito, Dissipation in noisy chemical networks: The role of deficiency, J. Chem. Phys. 143, 184103 (2015).

On the other hand, we want to describe the thermodynamic constraints on network reconstruction, in view of a fast and reliable algorithm. This paper sets the stage for doing that, giving a first-principles characterization of the thermodynamics of a CN. Again, topology plays a crucial role:

MP and M. Esposito, Irreversible thermodynamics of open chemical networks I: Emergent cycles and broken conservation laws, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 024117 (2014).

by tomate

Efficiency of stochastic machines

One of my main research lines is to study the role of noise on the performance of thermodynamic machines working far from equilibrium. Contrary to intuition, noise and friction are crucial ingredients to obtain efficient machines. On this line of research, I have studied what is the behavior of the efficiency treated as a stochastic variable

MP, G. Verley and M. Esposito, Efficiency Statistics at All Times: Carnot Limit at Finite Power, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 050601 (2015)

and I tried to argue that powerful efficient machines are not theoretically excluded:

MP and M. Esposito, Carnot efficiency at divergent power output, arXiv:1611.08192 [paper description]

by tomate

Foundations of thermodynamics

I like a lot to think about fundamental problems in thermodynamics. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

by tomate