This volume consists of a collection of invited articles, written by some of the most distinguished probabilists, most of whom have been personally responsible for advances in the various subfields of probability.

The past decade has seen unprecedented developments in the understanding of relativistic fluid dynamics in and out of equilibrium, with connections to astrophysics, cosmology, string theory, quantum information, nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. Romatschke and Romatschke offer a powerful new framework for fluid dynamics, exploring its connections to kinetic theory, gauge/gravity duality and thermal quantum field theory. Numerical algorithms to solve the equations of motion of relativistic dissipative fluid dynamics as well as applications to various systems are discussed. In particular, the book contains a comprehensive review of the theory background necessary to apply fluid dynamics to simulate relativistic nuclear collisions, including comparisons of fluid simulation results to experimental data for relativistic lead-lead, proton-lead and proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The book is an excellent resource for students and researchers working in nuclear physics, astrophysics, cosmology, quantum many-body systems and string theory.

This volume consists of a collection of invited articles, written by some of the most distinguished probabilists, most of whom have been personally responsible for advances in the various subfields of probability.

This volume consists of a collection of invited articles, written by some of the most distinguished probabilists, most of whom have been personally responsible for advances in the various subfields of probability.

For more than two decades percolation theory, random walks, interacting parti cle systems and topics related to statistical mechanics have experienced inten sive growth. In the last several years, especially remarkable progress has been made in a number of directions, such as: Wulff constructions above two dimen sions for percolation, Potts and Ising models, classification of random walks in random environments, better understanding of fluctuations in two dimen sional growth processes, the introduction and remarkable uses of the Stochastic Loewner Equation, the rigorous derivation of exact intersection exponents for planar Brownian motion, and finally, the proof of conformal invariance for crit ical percolation scaling limits on the triangular lattice. It was thus a fortuitous time to bring together researchers, including many personally responsible for these advances, in the framework of the IVth Brazilian School of Probability, held at Mambucaba on August 14-19,2000. This School, first envisioned and organized by IMPA's probability group in 1997, has since developed into an annual meeting with an almost constant format: it usually offers three advanced courses delivered by prominent scientists, combined with a high-level conference. This volume contains invited articles associated with that meeting, and we hope it will provide the reader with an accurate impression regarding the current state of affairs in these important fields of probability theory.

Stemming from the IHP trimester "Stochastic Dynamics Out of Equilibrium", this collection of contributions focuses on aspects of nonequilibrium dynamics and its ongoing developments. It is common practice in statistical mechanics to use models of large interacting assemblies governed by stochastic dynamics. In this context "equilibrium" is understood as stochastically (time) reversible dynamics with respect to a prescribed Gibbs measure. Nonequilibrium dynamics correspond on the other hand to irreversible evolutions, where fluxes appear in physical systems, and steady-state measures are unknown. The trimester, held at the Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP) in Paris from April to July 2017, comprised various events relating to three domains (i) transport in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics; (ii) the design of more efficient simulation methods; (iii) life sciences. It brought together physicists, mathematicians from many domains, computer scientists, as well as researchers working at the interface between biology, physics and mathematics. The present volume is indispensable reading for researchers and Ph.D. students working in such areas.

Out-of-Equilibrium (Supra)molecular Systems and Materials A must-have resource that covers everything from out-of-equilibrium chemical systems to active materials Out-of-Equilibrium (Supra)molecular Systems and Materials presents a comprehensive overview of the synthetic approaches that use molecular and supramolecular bonds in various out-of-equilibrium situations. With contributions from noted experts on the topic, the text contains information on the design of dissipative chemical systems that adapt their structures in space and time when fueled by an external source of energy. The contributors also examine molecules, nanoscale objects and materials that can produce mechanical work based on molecular machines. Additionally, the book explores living supramolecular polymers that can be trapped in kinetically stable states, as well as out-of-equilibrium chemical networks and oscillators that are important to understand the emergence of complex behaviors and, in particular, the origin of life. This important book: Offers comprehensive coverage of fields from design of out-of-equilibrium self-assemblies to molecular machines and active materials Presents information on a highly emerging and interdisciplinary topic Includes contributions from internationally renowned scientists Written for chemists, physical chemists, biochemists, material scientists, Out-of-Equilibrium (Supra)molecular Systems and Materials is an indispensable resource written by top scientists in the field.

“The importance of knowledge consists not only in its direct practical utility but also in the fact the it promotes a widely contemplative habit of mind; on this ground, utility is to be found in much of the knowledge that is nowadays labelled ‘useless’. ” Bertrand Russel, In Praise of Idleness, London (1935) “Why are scientists in so many cases so deeply interested in their work ? Is it merely because it is useful ? It is only necessary to talk to such scientists to discover that the utilitarian possibilities of their work are generally of secondary interest to them. Something else is primary. ” David Bohm, On creativity, Abingdon (1996) In this volume, the dynamical critical behaviour of many-body systems far from equilibrium is discussed. Therefore, the intrinsic properties of the - namics itself, rather than those of the stationary state, are in the focus of 1 interest. Characteristically, far-from-equilibrium systems often display - namical scaling, even if the stationary state is very far from being critical. A 1 As an example of a non-equilibrium phase transition, with striking practical c- sequences, consider the allotropic change of metallic ?-tin to brittle ?-tin. At o equilibrium, the gray ?-Sn becomes more stable than the silvery ?-Sn at 13. 2 C. Kinetically, the transition between these two solid forms of tin is rather slow at higher temperatures. It starts from small islands of ?-Sn, the growth of which proceeds through an auto-catalytic reaction.

The rapid technological developments during the later half of the 20th century have demanded materials that are stronger, capable of use at much higher temperatures, more corrosion-resistant, and much less expensive than those currently used. These demands become even more significant on the threshold of the new century and the millennium. Significant improvements in properties can only be achieved by processing the materials under far-from-equilibrium (or non-equilibrium) conditions. Several new processing technologies have been developed during the past few decades including, rapid solidification, spray forming, mechanical alloying, ion mixing, vapor deposition, laser processing and plasma processing. Remarkable advances have been made in recent years in the science and technology of these processes used to synthesize, characterize, and apply these materials processed under non-equilibrium conditions. Some of these techniques have evolved from laboratory curiosity to commercial-scale manufacturing in just a few years. In other cases, industrial necessity prompted development of the technology, and the science followed later. The chapters in this book have been written by people who are world-recognized experts in their respective fields. Each chapter describes the principles, processing techniques, special features of the materials produced, and their applications. An extensive list of references is provided at the end of each chapter that will facilitate location of additional information on specific aspects of any technique.