Much is known on equilibrium or the process to achieve it: we know that if we put ice in a hot soup, the ice will melt and the soup will cold down. Nevertheless, when we include some external energy source, we can keep a system away from equilibrium as long as desired. Non-equilibrium is required for many essential processes such as the transformation of energy and cooling a system. However, systems outside of equilibrium are still not well understood.
Our group uses thermodynamically consistent dynamic equations to figure out the limitations of non-equilibrium systems and define what is possible to achieve by using these systems.
