Related papers: Thermodynamics without Time
The problem of time in quantum gravity occurs because `time' is taken to have a different meaning in each of general relativity and ordinary quantum theory. This incompatibility creates serious problems with trying to replace these two…
In this work, the role of a time-varying Newton constant under the scale-dependent approach is investigated in the thermodynamics of the Friedman equations. In particular, we show that the extended Friedman equations can be derived either…
Out of several possible extensions of general relativity, the scalar-tensor theory is the most popular for several reasons. Since the quantum description of gravity is yet to be formulated properly, the understanding of a gravitational…
The wide-spread opinion is that original quantum mechanics is a reversible theory, but this statement is only true for undecomposed systems, that are those systems which sub-systems are out of consideration. Taking sub-systems into account,…
Advances in our understanding of the physical universe have impacted dramatically on how we view ourselves. Right at the core of all modern thinking about the universe is the assumption that dynamics is an elemental feature that exists…
Most of the approaches to the construction of a theory of quantum gravity share some principles which do not have specific experimental support up to date. Two of these principles are relevant for our discussion: (i) the gravitational field…
We discuss a simple toy model which allows, in a natural way, for deriving central facts from thermodynamics such as its fundamental laws, including Carnot's version of the second principle. Our viewpoint represents thermodynamic systems as…
Since the advent of quantum mechanics we have mainly been concerned with its predictions from the perspective of an external observer. This is in strong contrast to the theory of general relativity, where the physics is governed by the…
The problem of time is a notable obstacle towards the recognition of quantum theory as the ultimate fundamental description of nature. Quantum theory may not be complete if founded upon classical notions. Louis de Broglie, seeming to be…
We discuss the relational strategy to solve the problem of time in quantum gravity and different ways in which it could be implemented, pointing out in particular the fundamentally new dimension that the problem takes in a quantum gravity…
The rules of quantum mechanics require a time coordinate for their formulation. However, a notion of time is in general possible only when a classical spacetime geometry exists. Such a geometry is itself produced by classical matter…
The circumstances under which a system reaches thermal equilibrium, and how to derive this from basic dynamical laws, has been a major question from the very beginning of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Despite considerable…
The role of quantum entanglement in thermodynamical systems remains elusive. Does entanglement result in thermodynamic advantages or does it impose fundamental limitations? Here, we unambiguously quantify the amount of heat and work in a…
We study a class of theories in which space-time is treated classically, while interacting with quantum fields. These circumvent various no-go theorems and the pathologies of semi-classical gravity, by being linear in the density matrix and…
Understanding thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the full general relativistic context is an open problem. I give tentative definitions of equilibrium state, mean values, mean geometry, entropy and temperature, which reduce to the…
Here we investigate the impact of temporal entanglement on a system's ability to perform thermodynamical work. We show that while the quantum version of the Jarzynski equality remains satisfied even in the presence of temporal entanglement,…
Understanding the quantum nature of the gravitational field is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges in theoretical physics. Despite significant progress, a complete and consistent theory remains elusive. However, in the weak field…
We present the arguments suggesting that time is emergent in quantum gravity and discuss extensively, but without any technical detail, the many aspects that can be involved in such emergence. We refer to both the physical issues that need…
We derive a general formulation of the laws of irreversible thermodynamics in the presence of electromagnetism and gravity. For the handling of macroscopic material media, we use as a guide the field equations and the Noether identities of…
Fluctuation theorems establish exact relations for nonequilibrium dynamics, profoundly advancing the field of stochastic thermodynamics. In this work, we extend quantum fluctuation theorems beyond the traditional thermodynamic framework to…