Colloquium: Sadi Carnot's Legacy

Presentation

When Sadi Carnot published his "Reflections on the motive power of fire" in 1824, there was no sign that one of the greatest scientific revolutions was about to take place, in a world then dominated by mechanics and optics. Yet, by bringing a conceptual analysis to the practical problem of the steam engine, Sadi Carnot wrote the birth certificate of thermodynamics, and, in particular, its second principle.

Today, thermodynamics has branched out into a multitude of fields and applications, from industrial processes to microscopic systems, and continues to renew our view of science.

Since its origins, thermodynamics has raised as many questions as it has answered.

To celebrate the bicentenary of the "Réflexions", the colloquium Sadi Carnot's Legacy - "Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 2nd law of thermodynamics"  was organized from September 16 to 18, 2024.

This colloquium aimed to bring together members of the thermodynamics community and to invite them to take a critical look at modern thermodynamics and the open questions it raises. The colloquium has been structured around pedagogical presentations introducing the various fields of the discipline. Poster sessions allowed participants to share their work. 

Sponsors

Videos & slides

The colloquium was filmed: the videos will be uploaded below. You can also find the presentations projected by the speakers during their conferences.

Session: Introduction
Session: Thermodynamics paradigms
Session: small scale thermodynamics
Session: Large scale thermodynamics
Session: Applied thermodynamics

Poster session

Invited talks were intended to provide an educational introduction to the major areas of modern thermodynamics.

Participants' research work were presented and shared in poster sessions. All participants were invited to take part in these sessions: their posters have been displayed according to the number of participants and the poster theme.