English

Thermal stability originates the vanishing of the specific heats at the absolute zero

Statistical Mechanics 2025-12-10 v2 Strongly Correlated Electrons Chemical Physics Classical Physics History and Philosophy of Physics

Abstract

The relationship between the vanishing of the heat capacities as T0+T\to0^+ and the thermal stability is examined. The heat capacities vanish as fast as or faster than TT as T0+T\to0^+ for states at the phase space boundary (T=0T=0) to sustain the standard thermal stability criterion Uss>0U_{ss}>0. Conversely, weakly vanishing heat capacities, which signify a loss of curvature in U(S)U(S) at T=0T=0, are the signature of a critical condition precisely at T=0T=0, as exemplified in marginal Fermi liquids. Therefore, the vanishing of the specific heat should be viewed not as a new law but as a confirmatory result of the existing framework of thermodynamics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.05129,
  title  = {Thermal stability originates the vanishing of the specific heats at the absolute zero},
  author = {Martín-Olalla and José María},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.05129},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

4pages, 1figure, 1500 words in text, version in Spanish available elsewhere