Monge Cycles and the limits to power generation from thermal anisotropy

PACM Colloquium
Sep 15, 2025
4:30 - 5:30 pm
214 FINE HALL

Abstract: Thermodynamics was conceived in the 19th century to quantify the efficiency of steam engines, but its principles have since permeated disciplines ranging from chemistry and biology to astrophysics. While the classical theory describes idealized, quasi-static transformations, real engines operate in finite time, where power output—not just efficiency—matters. Progress in this regime has been hindered by the complexities of non-equilibrium dynamics. Recent developments in stochastic thermodynamics, which models system variables as evolving under Brownian excitation from heat baths, now offer a path forward. Using this framework, we uncover how anisotropy in thermal or chemical potentials can be harnessed for power generation in both engineered and natural systems, and we establish a fundamental bound on the power extractable during finite-time thermodynamic transitions.

The talk is based on joint works with Rui Fu (UCI), Olga Movilla (UCI), Amir Taghvaei (UCI) and Yongxin Chen (GaTech). Research funding by AFOSR, ARO and NSF is gratefully acknowledged.

Tryphon Georgiou - Bio

Tryphon Georgiou

Tryphon Georgiou

Tryphon T. Georgiou is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Georgiou joined the faculty of the University of California, Irvine in 2016 after almost thirty years at the University of Minnesota, where he held the Vincentine Hermes-Luh Chair (2002-2016) and served as a co-director of the Center for Control Science and Dynamical Systems at the University of Minnesota (1990-2016). He was educated at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece (1979) and the University of Florida, Gainesville (PhD. 1983). Professor Georgiou is a Fellow of the IEEE, SIAM, IFAC, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA).