Statistical Mechanics Derived From Quantum Mechanics
Abstract
A pedagogical derivation of statistical mechanics from quantum mechanics is provided, by means of open quantum systems. Besides, a new definition of Boltzmann entropy for a quantum closed system is also given to count microstates in a way consistent with the superposition principle. In particular, this new Boltzmann entropy is a constant that depends only on the dimension of the system's relevant Hilbert subspace. Finally, thermodynamics for quantum systems is investigated formally.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1501.05402,
title = {Statistical Mechanics Derived From Quantum Mechanics},
author = {Yu-Lei Feng and Yi-Xin Chen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.05402},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
32 pages, no figure, the title and contents have been revised. The discussions about the black hole thermodynamics based on unitary evolutions are given in another paper, because the original argument about the black hole entropy is not sufficient on the level of thermodynamics