The FPU-T problem, a challenge to dynamics and statistical mechanics

by Prof. Antonio Ponno (University of Padova)

Monday 12 Feb 2024, 00:00 → Thursday 15 Feb 2024, 02:00 Europe/Rome

Lecturer: 
Prof. Antonio Ponno (Università di Padova)
ponno AT math DOT unipd DOT it 

Course description   
The milestone problem conceived and studied by E. Fermi, J. Pasta and S. Ulam, with the supposedly unrecognised support by M. Tsingou-Menzel, named after the authors the FPU-T problem, or paradox, is here reviewed. The focus is on the general relevance of the problem, when thought of in large, to contemporary physics, which is due to the recent advances in the field  of experimental atomic physics, where pre-thermalization phenomena are typically observed.

References

1. Fermi, E., Pasta, J., Ulam, S.: Studies of non linear problems. Los-Alamos Internal Report, Document LA-1940 (1955). In: Enrico Fermi Collected Papers, vol. II, pp. 977–988. University of Chicago Press/Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Chicago/Roma (1965) 
2. Dauxois, T.: Fermi, Pasta, Ulam, and a mysterious lady. Physics Today 61, 1, 55 (2008) 
3. Tuck, J.L., Menzell, M.T.: The superperiod of the nonlinear weighted string (FPU) problem. Adv. Math. 9, 399–407 (1972) 
4. Fermi E.: Generalizzazione del teorema di Poincar´e sopra la non esistenza di integrali di un sistema di equazioni canoniche normali, Nuovo Cimento, 26 (1923) 101.  
5. Fermi E., Dimostrazione che in generale un sistema meccanico `e quasi ergodico, Nuovo Cimento, 25 (1923) 267–269

Schedule
All lectures will be held at the Main Lecture Hall in Viale Crispi 7 building, according to the following schedule:

Mon  Feb 12: 9-11
Tue   Feb 13: 9-11
Wed  Feb 14: 9 -11
Thur  Feb 15: 9-11