Entropy and the Time Evolution of Macroscopic Systems

Entropy and the Time Evolution of Macroscopic Systems
Title Entropy and the Time Evolution of Macroscopic Systems PDF eBook
Author Walter T. Grandy Jr.
Publisher OUP Oxford
Pages 225
Release 2008-06-26
Genre Science
ISBN 0191562955

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This book is based on the premise that the entropy concept, a fundamental element of probability theory as logic, governs all of thermal physics, both equilibrium and nonequilibrium. The variational algorithm of J. Willard Gibbs, dating from the 19th Century and extended considerably over the following 100 years, is shown to be the governing feature over the entire range of thermal phenomena, such that only the nature of the macroscopic constraints changes. Beginning with a short history of the development of the entropy concept by Rudolph Clausius and his predecessors, along with the formalization of classical thermodynamics by Gibbs, the first part of the book describes the quest to uncover the meaning of thermodynamic entropy, which leads to its relationship with probability and information as first envisioned by Ludwig Boltzmann. Recognition of entropy first of all as a fundamental element of probability theory in mid-twentieth Century led to deep insights into both statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, the details of which are presented here in several chapters. The later chapters extend these ideas to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in an unambiguous manner, thereby exhibiting the overall unifying role of the entropy.

Statistical Mechanics And Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism And Laws Of Nature

Statistical Mechanics And Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism And Laws Of Nature
Title Statistical Mechanics And Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism And Laws Of Nature PDF eBook
Author Valia Allori
Publisher World Scientific
Pages 698
Release 2020-04-22
Genre Science
ISBN 9811211736

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The book explores several open questions in the philosophy and the foundations of statistical mechanics. Each chapter is written by a leading expert in philosophy of physics and/or mathematical physics. Here is a list of questions that are addressed in the book:

Multiscale Thermo-Dynamics

Multiscale Thermo-Dynamics
Title Multiscale Thermo-Dynamics PDF eBook
Author Michal Pavelka
Publisher Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Pages 294
Release 2018-08-06
Genre Science
ISBN 3110350955

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One common feature of new emerging technologies is the fusion of the very small (nano) scale and the large scale engineering. The classical environment provided by single scale theories, as for instance by the classical hydrodynamics, is not anymore satisfactory. The main challenge is to keep the important details while still be able to keep the overall picture and simplicity. It is the thermodynamics that addresses this challenge. Our main reason for writing this book is to explain such general viewpoint of thermodynamics and to illustrate it on a very wide range of examples. Contents Levels of description Hamiltonian mechanics Irreversible evolution Reversible and irreversible evolution Multicomponent systems Contact geometry Appendix: Mathematical aspects

Time, Chance, and Reduction

Time, Chance, and Reduction
Title Time, Chance, and Reduction PDF eBook
Author Gerhard Ernst
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 219
Release 2010-01-21
Genre Science
ISBN 1139485431

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Statistical mechanics attempts to explain the behaviour of macroscopic physical systems in terms of the mechanical properties of their constituents. Although it is one of the fundamental theories of physics, it has received little attention from philosophers of science. Nevertheless, it raises philosophical questions of fundamental importance on the nature of time, chance and reduction. Most philosophical issues in this domain relate to the question of the reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics. This book addresses issues inherent in this reduction: the time-asymmetry of thermodynamics and its absence in statistical mechanics; the role and essential nature of chance and probability in this reduction when thermodynamics is non-probabilistic; and how, if at all, the reduction is possible. Compiling contributions on current research by experts in the field, this is an invaluable survey of the philosophy of statistical mechanics for academic researchers and graduate students interested in the foundations of physics.

Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics

Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
Title Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics PDF eBook
Author Ilya Prigogine
Publisher Courier Dover Publications
Pages 337
Release 2017-03-17
Genre Science
ISBN 0486815552

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Groundbreaking monograph by Nobel Prize winner for researchers and graduate students covers Liouville equation, anharmonic solids, Brownian motion, weakly coupled gases, scattering theory and short-range forces, general kinetic equations, more. 1962 edition.

Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense

Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense
Title Entropy Demystified: The Second Law Reduced To Plain Common Sense PDF eBook
Author Arieh Ben-naim
Publisher World Scientific
Pages 248
Release 2007-05-04
Genre Science
ISBN 9814476870

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In this unique book, Arieh Ben-Naim invites the reader to experience the joy of appreciating something which has eluded understanding for many years — entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.The book has a two-pronged message: first, that the Second Law is not “infinitely incomprehensible” as commonly stated in textbooks of thermodynamics but can, in fact, be comprehended through sheer common sense; and second, that entropy is not a mysterious quantity that has “resisted understanding” but a simple, familiar and easily comprehensible concept.Written in an accessible style, the book guides the reader through an abundance of dice games and examples from everyday life. The author paves the way for readers to discover for themselves what entropy is, how it changes, and most importantly, why it always changes in one direction in a spontaneous process.

Foundations of Statistical Mechanics

Foundations of Statistical Mechanics
Title Foundations of Statistical Mechanics PDF eBook
Author O. Penrose
Publisher Elsevier
Pages 272
Release 2016-09-21
Genre Science
ISBN 1483156486

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International Series of Monographs in Natural Philosophy, Volume 22: Foundations of Statistical Mechanics: A Deductive Treatment presents the main approaches to the basic problems of statistical mechanics. This book examines the theory that provides explicit recognition to the limitations on one's powers of observation. Organized into six chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the main physical assumptions and their idealization in the form of postulates. This text then examines the consequences of these postulates that culminate in a derivation of the fundamental formula for calculating probabilities in terms of dynamic quantities. Other chapters provide a careful analysis of the significant notion of entropy, which shows the links between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and also between communication theory and statistical mechanics. The final chapter deals with the thermodynamic concept of entropy. This book is intended to be suitable for students of theoretical physics. Probability theorists, statisticians, and philosophers will also find this book useful.