Entropic Approach to Critical Materials Assessment
Other Condensed Matter
2026-01-16 v1 Theoretical Economics
Geophysics
Abstract
Most methodologies for materials criticality assessment score supply risk and societal importance. Market-based criteria offer quantitative measures for assessment. Here we develop a statistical approach based on a geologic entropy function in which flexible constraints, such as economic, national security related, or regulatory, can be applied. As an example, the formulation describes the relation between elemental price and crustal abundance for selected elements, both important to supply risk. The method may be applicable to parameters resulting from collective decisions exhibiting a highly peaked probability distribution.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.09827,
title = {Entropic Approach to Critical Materials Assessment},
author = {Alan J. Hurd},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.09827},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
8 pages, 2 figures