[en] Work presently in progress concerning the possible equilibria of loops is described, and special attention is called on the existence of turning points in these sequences of equilibria

[en] In this Letter we have used the recently introduced redefined Hawking temperature on the event horizon and investigated whether the generalized second law of thermodynamics (GSLT) and thermodynamic equilibrium holds for both the event and the apparent horizons. Here we have considered FRW universe and examined the GSLT and thermodynamic equilibrium with three examples. Finally, we have concluded that from the thermodynamic viewpoint, the universe bounded by the event horizon is more realistic than that by the apparent horizon at least for some examples.

[en] In this work we show that tending to thermal equilibrium in one system, at least in certain cases, is associated with the coherent dynamical evolution of this system in interaction with another identical system. The temperature varying effect with time is manifestly shown in our analyses

[en] We show how the Berry phase can be used to construct a high-precision quantum thermometer. An important advantage of our scheme is that there is no need for the thermometer to acquire thermal equilibrium with the sample. This reduces measurement times and avoids precision limitations. (paper)

[en] In this work we explore two possible scenarios that can be considered to extend a recent proposed model by the authors known as reconstructed mimetic cosmology. This study is complemented with an statistical analysis for each case. The first scenario considers the inclusion of matter production as a possible source of cosmic expansion in the reconstructed mimetic model, at effective level was found that this construction can cross the phantom divide, the model evolves from quintessence to phantom dark energy. The second scenario corresponds to a construction of an interacting scheme for the dark sector which is described by the unified mimetic model. The resulting interaction term (not imposed by an Ansatz), Q, exhibits changes of sign leading to the violation of the second law along the cosmic evolution and non adiabaticity; the temperatures for the components of the dark sector are computed and such components are shown to be out of thermal equilibrium.

[en] We employ the local quantum uncertainty as reliable quantifier of discord-like correlations of a two-qubit one-dimensional XY Z Heisenberg chain with Dzyaloshinski–Moriya interaction in thermal equilibrium. We discuss the behavior of quantum correlations in terms of the Dzyaloshinski–Moriya coupling parameter and the temperature of the bath. A special emphasis is devoted to the effects induced by the Dzyaloshinski–Moriya interaction which tend to increase the amount of quantum discord contained in the system. Graphical abstract: .

[en] The thermodynamics of a gas of light strings in equilibrium with a heavy string, all contained in a box and at a temperature above the Hagedorn temperature, is described. Lower and upper bounds for the mass of the heavy string are derived. Validity limits of the thermodynamic approach are discussed. As an illustration the general formulae are applied to a particular case - the heterotic string. (orig.)

[en] Mechanisms of locomotion in microscopic systems are of great interest not only for technological applications but also for the sake of understanding, and potentially harnessing, processes far from thermal equilibrium. Downscaling is a particular challenge and has led to a number of interesting concepts, including thermal ratchet systems and asymmetric swimmers. Here we present a granular ratchet system employing a particularly robust mechanism that can be implemented in various settings. The system consists of wetted spheres of different sizes that adhere to each other, and are subject to a symmetric oscillating, zero average external force field. An inherent asymmetry in the mutual force network leads to force rectification and hence to locomotion. We present a simple model that accounts for the observed behaviour, underscores its robustness and suggests a potential scalability of the concept.

[en] An atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier discharge (AP-DBD) has a non-thermal behavior even at an atmospheric pressure and the reactor may not require expensive high vacuum components. Departure from the thermal equilibrium is one of the main parameters, which are important for the effective surface treatment. The plasma density, stability and uniformity are also important parameters. These days, atmospheric pressure plasmas are being investigated for applications to main flat panel display processing, photo-resist ashing and etching, for the deposition of organic and inorganic materials for diffusion barriers, etc., and to the wet cleaning processing. The number of photo-resist masking steps has increased recently to more than 30 in some new processes, and stripping of the photo resist mask should eventually be done after any photolithograph process. A dry technique of photo-resist stripping is carried out by oxygen plasma, and this is usually called ashing

[en] We applied the thermofield dynamics formalism to analyze how the non-classical properties of the Bell-cat states are influenced by a gradual change of temperature values, in a thermal equilibrium system. To this purpose we calculate the thermal Wigner functions for these states, whose negative volume is associated with non-classical properties, and we evaluate how these non-classical features vary with temperature. Our results indicate that these properties are almost absent for temperatures of around 2 K. (paper)