Prof. Roberto Onofrio - Thermalization via nonlinear interactions and its impact in fluid dynamics, cold atom physics, and plasma physics

by Prof. Roberto Onofrio (Dartmouth College)

Tuesday 2 Dec 2025, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Rome

P2C (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia - Edificio Paolotti)

We discuss a generalization of the Magalinskii-Ullersma-
Caldeira-Leggett model in which particles of two baths of
finite size interact via a nonlinear Hamiltonian. This leads
to consequences in the Kolmogorov-like scaling of their
interaction energy, the dynamics of thermalization of cold
atoms in realistic trapping potentials, and in plasma
physics, with the transient generation of non-Maxwell-
Boltzmann energy distributions characterized by hard
tails. The potential relevance of the latter result in plasma
fusion will be finally discussed.