The science of \(\Theta \Delta^{\text{cs}} \) (Q828341)

The paper follows a philosophical attitude, where the departure point is a view that the classical thermodynamics may not be a legitimate theory of fundamental physiscs, but rather a theory of how manipulations of a physical system may be used to obtain desired effects, like, e.g., the mechanical work. In fact, following the author's own words: ``This article is a sketch and defense of a science of manipulations and their effects on physical systems. I call this science thermo-dynamics (with hyphen) to highlight that it may be different from the science of thermodynamics, as the reader conceives it''. A core of the reasoning is a distinction between two modes of energy transfer between physical systems: as heat, and as work. This is encoded in the title abbreviation, coming from the greek ``theromotia''-heat, denoted \(\Theta \) and dynamics, denoted \(\Delta \). The scope of the presentation is limited to ``the zeroth, first, second, and (in the quantum context) third laws of thermodynamics, all of which were designated laws of thermodynamics by 1914 at the latest''. ``A thermo-dynamic theory involves treating certain variables as manipulable, and has to do with the responses of physical systems to manipulations of those variables. A designation of certain variables as manipulable is not something that appears in, or supervenes on, fundamental physics; it must be added. For this reason, \(\Theta \Delta ^{cs}\) is not and cannot be a comprehensive or fundamental physical theory.'' As such, the paper may be regarded as intellectually provocative, invoking a complementary view upon thermodynamic energy transfer, where the notion of thermodynamic reversibility of various processes is intentionally abandoned. No mathematical novelties can be reported.