Jobid=637597509225819030 (0.05)
We are looking for three postdoctoral researchers to join the interdisciplinary Origins of Irreversibility project: one in mathematical physics, one in theoretical physics and one in the history of physics. Together, you will investigate one of the deepest problems in fundamental science: how irreversible macroscopic behaviour can arise from microscopic laws that are typically reversible. The project connects statistical mechanics, quantum theory and gravitational physics with historical and conceptual research on entropy, randomness and chaos.
What makes these positions distinctive is the opportunity to pursue specialised research while being part of a genuinely interdisciplinary team. We particularly welcome researchers who are interested in crossing disciplinary boundaries: physicists and mathematicians who enjoy conceptual and foundational questions, as well as historians of physics who are interested in engaging seriously with the content of the science they study.
You will be an active member of RCNP. You will collaborate with the other postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates and senior investigators, participate in seminars and reading groups, contribute to workshops and conferences, and help build connections between mathematical physics, theoretical physics, history and philosophy of physics. There is considerable freedom to shape the precise research direction according to your expertise and interests, provided that it contributes to the overarching questions of the project.
The Mathematical physics position will contribute to the mathematical foundations of entropy, randomness and irreversibility, with possible directions including large deviation theory, algorithmic randomness, ergodic theory, quantum entropy, operator algebras and their applications to statistical physics and/or black hole thermodynamics.
The Theoretical physics position will focus on gravitational and holographic systems out of equilibrium, with possible topics including dynamical and cosmological horizons, gravitational entropy, Noether charge methods, holographic coarse-graining, chaos, black hole heat engines and quantum field theory in curved space-time. These two parts of the project are designed to interact closely: mathematical tools concerning entropy, randomness and operator algebras feed into the gravitational research, while problems arising in gravity and holography motivate new mathematical questions.
The History of physics position will investigate the history of chaos, randomness and irreversibility, from nineteenth-century statistical physics to the rise of chaos theory as an interdisciplinary movement in the late twentieth century. Possible themes include the relationship between Maxwell's and Boltzmann's ideas of molecular chaos and later mathematical notions of chaos; the circulation of concepts such as randomness, entropy and unpredictability between physics, mathematics, meteorology and other disciplines; the prominence of chaos theory in the 1970s and 1980s; and its longer-term methodological and conceptual impact. The historical research is intended not simply as a parallel study, but as a source of conceptual insight for the contemporary physics and mathematics in the project.
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