Associate Professor - Complex Systems, Biophysics, and Physics
About
Professor Horowitz’s research focus is on the development of a predictive nonequilibrium framework that can inform us about the thermodynamic design principles underlying the structure, function, and operation of life. Despite thermodynamics remarkable success as a theoretical framework, it is nevertheless limited to equilibrium or near-equilibrium situations, whereas most of the natural world, especially life, operates very far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Cells, in particular, utilize energy in dramatic ways for a whole host of necessary tasks, from intercellular transport and signal transduction to proofreading DNA. We are working to understand from a fundamental perspective how energy makes this possible by investigating the universal trade-offs between task and function coming from nonequilibrium thermodynamics. To accomplish this goal, we draw on theoretical tools from statistical mechanics, stochastic thermodynamics, and large deviation theory, combined with numerical modeling.
Notable publications:
- Universal thermodynamic bounds on nonequilibrium response with biochemical applications, J.A. Owen, T. R. Gingrich and J. M. Horowitz, Phys. Rev. X, 10, 011066 (2020).
- Dissipation bounds all steady-state current fluctuations, T. R. Gingrich, J. M. Horowitz, N. Perunov and J. L. England, Phys. Rev. Lett., 116, 120601 (2016).
- Thermodynamics with continuous information flow, J. M. Horowitz and M. Esposito, Phys. Rev. X, 4, 031015 (2014).
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