SFU Physics Research featured in Quanta Magazine

Research by Avinash Kumar (SFU Physics PhD 2021) and Prof. John Bechhoefer featured in Quanta Magazine

Can hot water cool and freeze faster than cold water? The so-called “Mpemba effect” remains controversial for water, but Avinash Kumar and John Bechhoefer have showed that it is present, reproducible, and can be quantitatively understood in simpler systems.  They studied the thermal relaxation of colloidal particles in carefully chosen potential landscapes and found conditions where the rate of cooling (and, sometimes, heating) becomes exponentially faster than usual.  Their work is featured in an online story published in Quanta Magazine.