Related papers: Confusion in Thermodynamics
Since the 1909 work of Carath\'eodory, formulations of thermodynamics have gained ground which highlight the role of the the binary relation of adiabatic accessibility between equilibrium states. A feature of Carath\'eodory's system is that…
Building on the fundamental equation, this study revisits key thermodynamic concepts in a cohesive and innovative manner. It demonstrates the consistency of thermodynamic theory while addressing and clarifying common misconceptions and…
Thermodynamics, and in particular its first law, is of fundamental importance to Science, and therefore of great general interest to all physicists. The first law, although undoubtedly true, and believed by everyone to be true because of…
The explanation of the apparent universality of thermodynamics points toward the extension of the usual conceptual background of the second law. Arguments are collected that a basic guiding idea of stability of thermodynamic equilibrium…
One of the fundamental questions in the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics is the role played by coherence in energetic processes that occur at the quantum level. Here, we address this issue by investigating two different quantum…
Carath\'eodory's formalism for classical thermodynamics is a rich alternative approach to this theory, although unpopular with students and physics professors. This approach dispenses with the content of thermal machines for the…
This article describes the third law of thermodynamics. This law is often poorly known and is often decried, or even considered optional and irrelevant to describe weather and climate phenomena. This, however, is inaccurate and contrary to…
Although its practical efficiency is unquestionable, it is well known that thermodynamics presents conceptual difficulties from the theoretical point of view. It is shown that the problem comes from an imperfect compatibility between the…
Quantum thermodynamics addresses the emergence of thermodynamical laws from quantum mechanics. The link is based on the intimate connection of quantum thermodynamics with the theory of open quantum systems. Quantum mechanics inserts…
The essential postulates of classical thermodynamics are formulated, from which the second law is deduced as the principle of increase of entropy in irreversible adiabatic processes that take one equilibrium state to another. The entropy…
Several models of quantum open systems are known at present to violate, according to principles of the standard quantum theory of open systems, the second law of thermodynamics. Here, a new and rather trivial model of another type is…
An extensive survey is given of the historical origins of the Second Law of thermodynamics, illustrated by excerpts from many original sources, and with biographical information about key contributors. The major strands of conceptual…
This paper is a natural continuation of a previous one by the author, which was concerned with the foundations of statistical thermodynamics far from equilibrium. One of the problems left open in that paper was the correct definition of…
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…
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…
For more than a century, physics has known of a puzzling conflict between the T-asymmetry of thermodynamic phenomena and the T-symmetry of the underlying microphysics on which these phenomena depend. This paper provides a guide to the…
The first law of thermodynamics restates the law of conservation of energy. It partitions the change in energy of a system into two pieces, heat and work. While there is no ambiguity to define heat and work in classical thermodynamics,…
The principal methods for the definition of thermodynamic entropy are discussed with special reference to those developed by Carath\'eodory, the Keenan School, Lieb and Yngvason, and the present authors. An improvement of the latter method…
First, Second and Combined Laws of Thermodynamics are revised in terms of entropy change, partial entropy, partial volume, and chemical potential.
Underlying the classical thermodynamic principles are analogous microscopic laws, arising from the fundamental axioms of quantum mechanics. These define quantum thermodynamic variables such as quantum work and heat and characterize the…