Bluff your way in the second law of thermodynamics

DOI10.1016/S1355-2198(01)00016-8MaRDI QIDQ720457zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Jos Uffink

Publication date 15 October 2011

Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0005327

zbMATH Keywords

thermodynamicsarrow of timesecond lawirreversibilitytime-reversal non-invariance

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mathematics in the 18th century (01A50) History of mathematics in the 19th century (01A55) History of mathematics in the 20th century (01A60) History of statistical mechanics (82-03) Foundations of equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B03)

Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyze the relation between the second law of thermodynamics and the so-called arrow of time. For this purpose, a number of different aspects in this arrow of time are distinguished, in particular those of time-(a)symmetry and of (ir)reversibility. Next I review versions of the second law in the work of Carnot, Clausius, Kelvin, Planck, Gibbs, Carath'eodory and Lieb and Yngvason, and investigate their connection with these aspects of the arrow of time. It is shown that this connection varies a great deal along with these formulations of the second law. According to the famous formulation by Planck, the second law expresses the irreversibility of natural processes. But in many other formulations irreversibility or even time-asymmetry plays no role. I therefore argue for the view that the second law has nothing to do with the arrow of time. Key words: thermodynamics, second law, irreversibility, time-asymmetry, arrow of time.

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Cited in

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