EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: Brownian Motion
Speaker: Prof. Bertrand Duplantier
Speaker Info: Theoretical Physics, CEA- Saclay
Brief Description:
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Abstract:

This talk will give a historical perspective on Brownian motion. Einstein derived in 1905 the diffusion coefficient of Brownian particles suspended in a liquid, actually after a similar derivation by William Sutherland in Melbourne. Later approaches by Einstein include an unpublished one recently discovered that I shall present. Experimental confirmation of the theory came with Perrin, meanwhile Langevin invented stochastic calculus. In mathematics, the Wiener measure on continuous random paths provided a first rigorous approach (with Bachelier in 1900!), as well as the first functional integral! Some present-day applications of Brownian motion to physics and biology will also be discussed.