Related papers: A No-Go Theorem of Analytical Mechanics for the Se…
Boltzmann's principle S=k ln W allows to extend equilibrium thermo-statistics to ``Small'' systems without invoking the thermodynamic limit. The clue is to base statistical probability on ensemble averaging and not on time averaging. It is…
It was first suggested by David Z. Albert that the existence of a real, physical non-unitary process (i.e., "collapse") at the quantum level would yield a complete explanation for the Second Law of Thermodynamics (i.e., the increase in…
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…
In textbooks on statistical mechanics, one finds often arguments based on classical mechanics, phase space and ergodicity in order to justify the second law of thermodynamics. However, the basic equations of motion of classical mechanics…
In the previous analyses in the literature about the generalized second law (GSL) in an accelerated expanding universe the usual area relation for the entropy, i.e. $S={A\over 4G}$, was used for the cosmological horizon entropy. But this…
Ten attempts to prove the Generalized Second Law of Thermodyanmics (GSL) are described and critiqued. Each proof provides valuable insights which should be useful for constructing future, more complete proofs. Rather than merely summarizing…
Recently, there has been a considerable progress on the issue of the thermodynamic second law, which is known as the law of entropy increase or irreversibility. In particular, a novel symmetry known as the Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry is found…
The second law of equilibrium thermodynamics explains the direction of spontaneous processes in a system after removing internal constraints. When the system only exchanges energy with the environment as heat, the second law states that…
Boltzmann's principleS=k*ln W is generalized to non-equilibrium Hamiltonian systems with possibly fractal distributions in phase space by the box-counting volume. The probabilities P(M) of macroscopic observables M are given by the ratio…
The generalized second law (GSL) of black hole thermodynamics states that the sum of changes in black hole entropy and the ordinary entropy of matter and fields outside the hole must be non-negative. In the classical limit, the GSL reduces…
Recent research on the fundamentals of statistical mechanics has led to an interesting discovery [1-3]: With locally nonchaotic barriers, as Boltzmann's H-theorem is inapplicable, there exist nontrivial non-thermodynamic systems that can…
Temperature is an outsider in the laws of motion given by Newton and Einstein and this oversight is the source of the predictions of time-reversal-invariance made by these two great systems of motion. By taking into consideration Planck's…
For macroscopic systems, the second law of thermodynamics establishes an inequality between the amount of work performed on a system in contact with a thermal reservoir, and the change in its free energy. For microscopic systems, this…
We generalize the second law of thermodynamics in its maximum work formulation for a nonequilibrium initial distribution. It is found that in an isothermal process, the Boltzmann relative entropy (H-function) is not just a Lyapunov function…
It is argued the the idea of a single temperature-like variable, introduced in [1], which enters a generalized second law for Markovian open system in non-equilibrium environment is not sufficient for a consistent and useful thermodynamic…
The Gibbs distribution universally characterizes states of thermal equilibrium. In order to extend the Gibbs distribution to non-equilibrium steady states, one must relate the self-information $\mathcal{I}(x) = -\log(P_\text{ss}(x))$ of…
We consider the Non-Equilibrium Steady State induced by two infinite quantum thermal reservoirs at different temperatures and derive an inequality giving the upper bound of the work extracted by cyclic operations. This upper bound tends to…
Black hole thermodynamics provides a unique setting in which general relativity, quantum field theory, and statistical mechanics converge. In semiclassical gravity, this interplay culminates in the generalized second law (GSL), whose modern…
The generalized second law (GSL) of black hole thermodynamics asserts the monotonic increase of the generalized entropy combining the black hole area and the entropy of quantum fields outside the horizon. Modern proofs of the GSL rely on…
Nonequilibrium thermodynamics of a general second-order stochastic system is investigated. We prove that at steady state, under inversion of velocities, the condition of time-reversibility over the phase space is equivalent to the…