Related papers: Methodological principles of modern thermodynamics
Stochastic thermodynamics as reviewed here systematically provides a framework for extending the notions of classical thermodynamics like work, heat and entropy production to the level of individual trajectories of well-defined…
We define thermodynamic configurations and identify two primitives of discrete quantum processes between configurations for which heat and work can be defined in a natural way. This allows us to uncover a general second law for any discrete…
This article traces the development of fluctuation theory and its deep connection to irreversibility, from equilibrium to near-equilibrium, and finally to far-from-equilibrium systems. Classical fluctuation theorems, which capture the…
The thermodynamics with medium effects expressed by the dispersion relation of the temperature and density dependent particle mass is studied. Many previous treatments have been reviewed. A new thermodynamical treatment based on the…
In this paper, through a criticism of what we call the paradigmatic view of thermodynamics, we aim at showing a new perspective attained in this matter. The generalization of heat as internal energy (generalization of the kinetic energy…
A set of core features is set forth as the essence of a thermodynamic description, which derive from large-deviation properties in systems with hierarchies of timescales, but which are \emph{not} dependent upon conservation laws or…
The formalism used in describing the thermodynamics of abrupt (or first-order) phase transitions is reviewed as an application of maximum entropy inference. In this treatment, we show that the concepts of transition temperature, latent heat…
Thermodynamics and information have intricate inter-relations. The justification of the fact that information is physical, is done by inter-linking information and thermodynamics - through Landauer's principle. This modern approach towards…
A fundamental problem in modern thermodynamics is how a molecular-scale machine performs useful work, while operating away from thermal equilibrium without excessive dissipation. To this end, we derive a friction tensor that induces a…
Accurately describing work extraction from a quantum system is a central objective for the extension of thermodynamics to individual quantum systems. The concepts of work and heat are surprisingly subtle when generalizations are made to…
The unification of relativity and thermodynamics has been a subject of considerable debate over the last 100 years. The reasons for this are twofold: (i) Thermodynamic variables are nonlocal quantities and, thus, single out a preferred…
The energy conversion efficiency of far-from-equilibrium systems is generally limited by irreversible thermodynamic fluxes that make contact with different heat baths. For complex systems, the states of the maximum efficiency and the…
The principles of the thermoelectric phenomenon, including Seebeck effect, Peltier effect, and Thomson effect are discussed. The dependence of the thermoelectric devices on the figure of merit, Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity,…
The relativistic continuity equations for the extensive thermodynamic quantities are derived based on the divergence theorem in Minkowski space outlined by St\"uckelberg. This covariant approach leads to a relativistic formulation of the…
The sum of the average work dissipated plus the information gained during a thermodynamic process with discrete feedback must exceed zero. We demonstrate that the minimum value of zero is attained only by feedback-reversible processes that…
Thermodynamics is usually formulated on the presumption that the observer has complete information about the system he/she deals with: no parasitic current, exact evaluation of the forces that drive the system. For example, the acclaimed…
The study of thermal heat engines was pivotal to establishing the principles of equilibrium thermodynamics, with implications far wider than only engine optimization. For nonequilibrium systems, which by definition dissipate energy even at…
Passivity is a fundamental concept in thermodynamics that demands a quantum system's energy cannot be lowered by any reversible, unitary process acting on the system. In the limit of many such systems, passivity leads in turn to the concept…
The second law of thermodynamics implies a relationship between the net entropy export by the Earth and its internal irreversible entropy production. The application of this constraint for the purpose of understanding Earth's climate is…
We present a map of standard quantum mechanics onto a dual theory, that of the classical thermodynamics of irreversible processes. While no gravity is present in our construction, our map exhibits features that are reminiscent of the…