Phase transitions in ``small'' systems -- a challenge for thermodynamics (Q5935152): Difference between revisions

Traditionally, phase transitions are defined in the thermodynamic limit only. We propose a new formulation of equilibrium thermo-dynamics that is based entirely on mechanics and reflects just the geometry and topology of the \(N\)-body phase-space as function of the conserved quantities, energy, particle number and others. This allows to define thermo-statistics without the use of the thermodynamic limit, to apply it to ``Small'' systems as well and to define phase transitions unambiguously also there. ``Small'' systems are systems where the linear dimension is of the characteristic range of the interaction between the particles. Also astrophysical systems are ``Small'' in this sense. Boltzmann defines the entropy as the logarithm of the area \(W(E,N) = e^{S(E,N)}\) of the surface in the mechanical \(N\)-body phase space at total energy \(E\). The topology of \(S(E,N)\) or more precisely, of the curvature determinant \(D(E,N) =\partial^2S/\partial E^2 * \partial^2S/\partial N^2 - (\partial^2S/\partial E\partial N)^2\) allows the classification of phase transitions without taking the thermodynamic limit. The topology gives further a simple and transparent definition of the order parameter. Attention: Boltzmann's entropy \(S(E)\) as defined here is different from the information entropy and can even be non-extensive and convex.