A precise formulation of the third law of thermodynamics

DOI10.1007/S10955-009-9693-5zbMATH Open1166.82012arXiv0710.4918OpenAlexW2022740667MaRDI QIDQ1024225FDOQ1024225

Authors: Walter F. Wreszinski, E. Abdalla 

Publication date: 16 June 2009

Published in: Journal of Statistical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: The third law of thermodynamics is formulated precisely: all points of the state space of zero temperature $Gamm{a}_0$ are physically adiabatically inaccessible from the state space of a simple system. In addition to implying the unattainability of absolute zero in finite time (or "by a finite number of operations"), it admits as corollary, under a continuity assumption, that all points of $Gamm{a}_0$ are adiabatically equivalent. We argue that the third law is universally valid for all macroscopic systems which obey the laws of quantum mechanics and/or quantum field theory. We also briefly discuss why a precise formulation of the third law for black holes remains an open problem.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0710.4918

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zbMATH Keywords

entropyblack holesthermodynamicsadiabatic accessibilitythird law

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Black holes (83C57) Irreversible thermodynamics, including Onsager-Machlup theory (82B35) Galactic and stellar structure (85A15)

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Cited In (5)

• Does the third law of thermodynamics hold in the quantum regime?
• Notes on the third law of thermodynamics: I
• Degenerated ground-states in a spin chain with pair interactions: a characterization by symbolic dynamics
• On ergodic states, spontaneous symmetry breaking and quasi-averages
• Bounded energy exchange as an alternative to the third law of thermodynamics

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