Why this conference?

Transport phenomena are relevant in several fields, both for applications and for fundamental research. Basically, the problem can be divided in two large classes:

I- Macroscopic scale transport

II- Micro/nano transport

In class I we include the transport of inert and reacting substances which is of great relevance on the fundamental level (chaotic dynamics, Markovian processes) as well as for applications (geophysics, combustion). This problem has been often approached by means of continuous models (partial derivative equations) and restricting the focus on the asymptotic dynamics. Many real situations require non-asymptotic phenomena and discrete models to be considered (e.g., in the case of reacting particles which, advected by the fluid, change their "color" as consequence of the interaction with neighbouring particles). At the same time, it is important to take into account the problem of transport of impurities of finite size and of different density with respect to that of the advecting fluid. These situations, indeed, are commonly encountered in the study of environmental problems, or when trying to improve industrial processes, and are also essential in the understanding of important physical problems (e.g. the formation of rain droplet). From the theoretical point of view new phenomena appear, such as the formation of "cluster" of particles and preferential concentration.

The micro/nano transport is also a relevant problem with a great impact on applications. In this domain, the Knudsen number (ratio between mean free path and typical system size) is high, making kinetic theory inapplicable, particles are practically independent and the problem can be studied in the framework of dynamical systems. An important theoretical challenge is related to the difficulties of using standard transport theories (e.g. the Fick equation), since an asymptotic regime (in time) is usually not reached and/or diffusion is anomalous.

In the last decade an increasing community of researchers had to deal with anomalous transport while trying to tackle problems in basic science as well as in applications and experiments. Actually, beyond its conceptual interest, anomalous transport can provide an effective tool for analyzing and understanding many practical problems like transport in nanosystems.

The main goal of this school/conference is surveying the relevance of non standard transport in various research domains ranging from mathematics to geophysics and nanosystems. The school/conference aims also at collecting scientists from different research areas sharing a common interest for diffusion and transport.

Main Topics:

* Transport and chaos
* Diffusion and mixing in geophysical systems
* Anomalous diffusion in small systems
* Non equilibrium statistical mechanics
* Transport in micro/nanosystems


There will be

* two tutorial courses: M. Cencini and R. Klages (3 hours each)
* two mini courses: F. dell'Isola and P. Seppecher (2 hours each)
* 15 thematic talks