Related papers: Definitions and Evolutions of Statistical Entropy …
A heuristic generalization of the Boltzmann-Gibbs microcanonical entropy is proposed, able to describe meta-equilibrium features and evolution of macroscopic systems. Despite its simple-minded derivation, such a function of "collective…
We consider an isolated system in an arbitrary state and provide a general formulation using first principles for an additive and non-negative statistical quantity that is shown to reproduce the equilibrium thermodynamic entropy of the…
We develop the argument that the Gibbs-von Neumann entropy is the appropriate statistical mechanical generalisation of the thermodynamic entropy, for macroscopic and microscopic systems, whether in thermal equilibrium or not, as a…
The Gibbs entropy of a macroscopic classical system is a function of a probability distribution over phase space, i.e., of an ensemble. In contrast, the Boltzmann entropy is a function on phase space, and is thus defined for an individual…
Statistical formulations of thermodynamic entropy, such as those by Boltzmann and Gibbs, were originally developed for classical systems and are well understood in that context. However, the foundational aspects of quantum statistical…
We prove the eventological $H$-theorem that complements the Boltzmann H-theorem from statistical mechanics and serves as a mathematical excuse (mathematically no less convincing than the Boltzmann H-theorem for the second law of…
The essence of the second law of classical thermodynamics is the `entropy principle' which asserts the existence of an additive and extensive entropy function, S, that is defined for all equilibrium states of thermodynamic systems and whose…
Many complex systems are characterized by non-Boltzmann distribution functions of their statistical variables. If one wants to -- justified or not -- hold on to the maximum entropy principle for complex statistical systems (non-Boltzmann)…
In a macroscopic (quantum or classical) Hamiltonian system, we prove the second law of thermodynamics in the forms of the minimum work principle and the law of entropy increase, under the assumption that the initial state is described by a…
We use rigorous non-equilibrium thermodynamic arguments to prove (i) the residual entropy of any system is bounded below by the experimentally (calorimetrically) determined absolute temperature entropy, which itself is bounded below by the…
Thermodynamics makes definite predictions about the thermal behavior of macroscopic systems in and out of equilibrium. Statistical mechanics aims to derive this behavior from the dynamics and statistics of the atoms and molecules making up…
Equilibrium statistics of Hamiltonian systems is correctly described by the microcanonical ensemble. Classically this is the manifold of all points in the $N-$body phase space with the given total energy. Due to Boltzmann's principle,…
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Ludwig Boltzmann explained how irreversible macroscopic laws, in particular the second law of thermodynamics, originate in the time-reversible laws of microscopic physics. Boltzmann's analysis,…
For a dynamical system far from equilibrium, one has to deal with empirical probabilities defined through time-averages, and the main problem is then how to formulate an appropriate statistical thermodynamics. The common answer is that the…
The Boltzmann and Gibbs approaches to statistical mechanics have very different definitions of equilibrium and entropy. The problems associated with this are discussed and it is suggested that they can be resolved, to produce a version of…
In classical Hamiltonian theories, entropy may be understood either as a statistical property of canonical systems, or as a mechanical property, that is, as a monotonic function of the phase space along trajectories. In classical mechanics,…
In statistical thermodynamics the 2nd law is properly spelled out in terms of conditioned probabilities. As such it makes the statement, that `entropy increases with time' without preferring a time direction. In this paper I try to explain…
The fundamental assumption of statistical mechanics is that the system is equally likely in any of the accessible microstates. Based on this assumption, the Boltzmann distribution is derived and the full theory of statistical thermodynamics…
On a fine grained scale the Gibbs entropy of an isolated system remains constant throughout its dynamical evolution. This is a consequence of Liouville's theorem for Hamiltonian systems and appears to contradict the second law of…
We test Boltzmann's H-theorem for several models of particle random walk. We study the influence of interaction between the particle and reservoir/detectors on entropy and find entropy increasing in time for some models and behaving…