Related papers: Sociophysics - an astriding science
A simple and effective approach to thermodynamics is suggested, which solves the major difficulties in the traditional presentation of the subject. The internal energy is introduced from the behavior of deformable bodies, whereas the…
Here I briefly discuss why supersymmetry is considered a leading candidate of physics beyond the standard model. I also highlight the salient features of different supersymmetry breaking models. A few other symmetries, broken or intact,…
We investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics, in the cosmological scenario where dark energy interacts with both dark matter and radiation. Calculating separately the entropy variation for each fluid component…
Time-asymmetric behavior as embodied in the second law of thermodynamics is observed in {\it individual macroscopic} systems. It can be understood as arising naturally from time-symmetric microscopic laws when account is taken of a) the…
It has previously been shown that it is more general to describe the evolution of the universe based on the emergence of the space and the energy balance relation. Here we investigate the thermodynamic properties of the universe described…
A comparative study of a set of parametric dark energy models is performed by studying the evolution of dark energy both in the past and future epochs. In addition, the age of the universe and time till the distant future $(a=1000)$ are…
As 2005, the International Year of Physics, comes to an end, two physicists working primarily in geophysical research reflect on how geophysics is not an applied physics. Although geophysics has certainly benefited from progress in physics…
Thermodynamical aspects of string theory are reviewed and discussed.
In statistical mechanics the zeroth law of thermodynamics is taken as a postulate which, as its name indicates, logically precedes the first and second laws. Treating it as a postulate has consequences for how temperature is introduced into…
This Resource Letter draws on discipline-based education research from physics, chemistry, and biology to collect literature on the teaching of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the three disciplines. While the overlap among the…
In these Lecture Notes we aim at clarifying how soft matter physics, and herein notably statistical mechanics and fluid mechanics, can be engaged to understand and manipulate non-equilibrium systems consisting of numerous (microscopic)…
What do we do when cosmology raises questions it cannot answer? These include the existence of a multiverse and the universality of the laws of physics. We cannot settle any of these issues by experiment, and this is where philosophers…
Life has a special status, it even has its own science: biology. In many ways, the logic of life seems to differ from that of atoms, molecules, planets, or any other `inanimate object'. However, life is increasingly measured using…
If the second law of thermodynamics forbids a transition from one state to another, then it is still possible to make the transition happen by using a sufficient amount of work. But if we do not have access to this amount of work, can the…
We consider the problem of constructing a thermodynamic theory of non-equilibrium steady states as a formal extension of the equilibrium theory. Specifically, studying a particular system, we attempt to construct a phenomenological theory…
We reconsider the basic building blocks of classical phenomenological thermodynamics. While doing so we show that the zeroth law is a redundant postulate for the theory by deriving it from the first and the second laws. This is in stark…
A picture for thermodynamics of the glassy state is introduced. It assumes that one extra parameter, the effective temperature, is needed to describe the glassy state. This explains the classical paradoxes concerning the Ehrenfest relations…
How can econophysics contribute to economics? Since the relation between basic principles of physics and economics is not established, there is no reason why physical theories should be of any value for economic theory. While economic…
As a neuroscientist and a theoretical physicist, both working on time, we have decided to open a direct dialogue to examine if the apparent discrepancies regarding the nature of time can be composed.
It is probably not a coincidence that two of the pioneers of thermodynamics, Helmholtz and Mayer, were physicians. Thermodynamics studies the transformations of energy, and such transformations ceaselessly take place in all living systems…