"The Challenge of Active Dynamics in Theoretical Physics", by Alejandro Jenkins

Many physical processes of interest are both thermodynamically irreversible and _active_: i.e., they generate work as well as entropy. But the conceptual and mathematical development of theoretical physics since Euler (if not earlier) has tended to invisiblize such processes, because it frames dynamics as an optimization problem, limiting it to describing only processes that are reversible (i.e., conservative) or passively irreversible (i.e., generating entropy but not work). In this talk I argue that this underlies our persistent confusion about seemingly elementary problems like triboelectricity, aerodynamic lift, turbulence, of the mechanism of a Voltaic battery. I finish by arguing that it's necessary to face up to this theoretical blind spot in order to understand the greatest of all active dynamics: the origins of the Universe.
This is a version of talk originally given in Spanish on 22 May 2024, as part of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Department of Physics (_Escuela de Física_) at the University of Costa Rica, to a general audience of the department's faculty and students.

[@dsolis7532]

Great talk professor, thanks for making this widely available.
I strongly agree that your definition of “active systems” captures better the systems that are interesting in “complex systems”.