MSE Seminar Series

Friday, April 29, 2022 @11am      Doherty Hall - 2210

Professor David E. Laughlin,
ALCOA Professor of Physical Metallurgy,
Carnegie Mellon University

presents:
Symmetry and Entropy

ABSTRACT:
The concepts of symmetry and entropy pervade our curriculum. In this seminar I will discuss the correlations between these two general concepts using various “vignettes” which will help to clarify their relationship.

Are symmetry and entropy directly or inversely related?  That is, does high symmetry of a system imply low entropy of the system or vice versa? How do they relate to the “ordering” of a system? These questions will be answered and illustrated by several examples.

Some paradoxes which have arisen in understanding Entropy will be presented and discussed. In addition, I will discuss several Rules or Laws of Symmetry (Minnigerode, Neumann, Curie, Shubnikov and Hermann) with their applications to materials systems.

If time permits, applications of the Third Law of Thermodynamics to materials systems will conclude the presentation.

BIOGRAPHY:
David E. Laughlin is the ALCOA Professor of Physical Metallurgy at CMU where he has been on the faculty since 1974.  He is a graduate of Drexel University (1969, B.Sc. Metallurgical Eng.) and MIT (1973, Ph.D. in Metallurgy). His research has focused on Phase Transformations, Phase Equilibria and Magnetic Materials. He has co-authored the textbook Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials as well as co-edited the three volume Physical Metallurgy (Elsevier).