Related papers: Does the Boltzmann principle need a dynamical corr…
We extend on ideas from standard thermodynamics to show that temperature can be assigned to a general nonequilibrium quantum system. By choosing a physically motivated complete set of observables and expanding the system state thereupon,…
Comparison of the thermodynamic entropy with Boltzmann's principle shows that under conditions of constant volume the total number of arrangements in simple thermodynamic systems with temperature-independent heat capacities is TC/k. A…
We revisit the Rayleigh--Riabouchinsky paradox in dimensional analysis by making explicit the bridge between thermodynamics and the mechanical interpretation of temperature. Boltzmann's constant $k_B$ acts as a dimensional unifier, leading…
We study two small quantum systems coupled to the same reservoir which is in thermal equilibrium. By studying the particle density and the energy density in the two systems before and after they contact each other, we find that the two…
From a new rigorous formulation of the general axiomatic foundations of thermodynamics we derive an operational definition of entropy that responds to the emergent need in many technological frameworks to understand and deploy thermodynamic…
Boltzmann's principle S(E,N,V)=k*ln W(E,N,V) relates the entropy to the geometric area e^{S(E,N,V)} of the manifold of constant energy in the N-body phase space. From the principle all thermodynamics and especially all phenomena of phase…
The limit of small entropy production is reached in relaxing systems long after preparation, and in stationary driven systems in the limit of small driving power. Surprisingly, for extended systems this limit is not in general the…
We review the general aspects of the concept of temperature in equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Although temperature is an old and well-established notion, it still presents controversial facets. After a short…
A single mechanism, endemic to the standard model of physics, is proposed to explain wavefunction collapse, classical motion, dissipation, equilibration, and the transition from pure quantum mechanics through open system decoherence to the…
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…
In a recent paper [Franzosi, Physica A {\bf 494}, 302 (2018)], we have suggested to use of the surface entropy, namely the logarithm of the area of a hypersurface of constant energy in the phase space, as an expression for the thermodynamic…
The issue of the thermodynamics of a system of distinguishable particles is discussed in this paper. In constructing the statistical mechanics of distinguishable particles from the definition of Boltzmann entropy, it is found that the…
We develop the stochastic approach to thermodynamics based on the stochastic dynamics, which can be discrete (master equation) continuous (Fokker-Planck equation), and on two assumptions concerning entropy. The first is the definition of…
One of the fundamental laws of classical statistical physics is the energy equipartition theorem which states that for each degree of freedom the mean kinetic energy $E_k$ equals $E_k=k_B T/2$, where $k_B$ is the Boltzmann constant and $T$…
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-Planck's principle,…
Temperature scale and the Boltzmann constant: The newest system of units is based on a compatible set of natural constants with fixed values. An example is the Boltzmann constant k which defines the thermal energy content kT. To express the…
Concepts of everyday use like energy, heat, and temperature have acquired a precise meaning after the development of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics provides the basis for understanding how heat and work are related and with the general…
We review two definitions of temperature in statistical mechanics, $T_B$ and $T_G$, corresponding to two possible definitions of entropy, $S_B$ and $S_G$, known as surface and volume entropy respectively. We restrict our attention to a…
The Boltzmann kinetic equation is obtained from an integro-differential master equation that describes a stochastic dynamics in phase space of an isolated thermodynamic system. The stochastic evolution yields a generation of entropy,…
'Relativistic thermodynamics' should be understood not as a generalization of a non-relativistic theory but as an application of a general thermodynamic framework, neutral as to spacetime setting and allowing arbitrary conserved quantities,…