Related papers: Thermodynamics without Time
Thermodynamics is based on a coarse-grained approach, from which its fundamental variables emerge, effectively erasing the complicate details of the microscopic dynamics within a macroscopic system. The strength of Thermodynamics lies in…
During the past 30 years, research in general relativity has brought to light strong hints of a very deep and fundamental relationship between gravitation, thermodynamics, and quantum theory. The most striking indication of such a…
The intersection of thermodynamics, quantum theory and gravity has revealed many profound insights, all the while posing new puzzles. In this article, we discuss an extension of equilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics…
Time is absolute in standard quantum theory and dynamical in general relativity. The combination of both theories into a theory of quantum gravity leads therefore to a "problem of time". In my essay I shall investigate those consequences…
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…
On one popular view, the general covariance of gravity implies that change is relational in a strong sense, such that all it is for a physical degree of freedom to change is for it to vary with regard to a second physical degree of freedom.…
In quantum gravity there is no notion of absolute time. Like all other quantities in the theory, the notion of time has to be introduced "relationally", by studying the behavior of some physical quantities in terms of others chosen as a…
We consider the cluster of problems raised by the relation between the notion of time, gravitational theory, quantum theory and thermodynamics; in particular, we address the problem of relating the "timelessness" of the hypothetical…
The connection between gravity and thermodynamics is explored. Examining a perfect fluid in gravitational equilibrium we find that the entropy is extremal only if Einstein's equations are satisfied. Conversely, one can derive part of…
Classical thermodynamics is built with the concept of equilibrium states. However, it is less clear how equilibrium thermodynamics emerges through the dynamics that follows the principle of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we develop a…
We find necessary and sufficient conditions to determine the inter-convertibility of quantum systems under time-translation covariant evolution, and use it to solve several problems in quantum thermodynamics both in the single-shot and…
Quantum gravity--the marriage of quantum physics with general relativity--is bound to contain deep and important lessons for the nature of physical time. Some of these lessons shall be canvassed here, particularly as they arise from quantum…
We elaborate on the existing notion that quantum mechanics is an emergent phenomenon, by presenting a thermodynamical theory that is dual to quantum mechanics. This dual theory is that of classical irreversible thermodynamics. The linear…
The equations of motion describing all physical systems, except gravity, remain invariant if a constant is added to the Lagrangian. In the conventional approach, gravitational theories break this symmetry exhibited by all other physical…
The theory of quantum thermodynamics investigates how the concepts of heat, work, and temperature can be carried over to the quantum realm, where fluctuations and randomness are fundamentally unavoidable. These lecture notes provide an…
Spacetimes with horizons show a resemblance to thermodynamic systems and it is possible to associate the notions of temperature and entropy with them. Several aspects of this connection are reviewed in a manner appropriate for broad…
We discuss the emergence of time in quantum gravity, and ask whether time is always "something that flows"'. We first recall that this is indeed the case in both relativity and quantum mechanics, although in very different manners: time…
A modification of the covariant theory is proposed in which the self-energy of the system, corresponding to time-like degrees of freedom in the configuration space, preserves the classical law of change in quantum theory. As a result,…
Preparing general relativity for quantization in the Hamiltonian approach leads to the `problem of time,' rendering the world fundamentally timeless. One proposed solution is the `thermal time hypothesis,' which defines time in terms of…
It is generally admitted in thermodynamics that, for a given change in volume, the work done by a system is greater in conditions of reversibility than in conditions of irreversibility. If the basic conventions of physics are strictly…