A mathematical theorem as the basis for the second law: Thomson's formulation applied to equilibrium

A.E. Allahverdyan and Th.M. Nieuwenhuizen

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2002, vol. 305, issue 3, 542-552

Abstract: There are several formulations of the second law, and they may, in principle, have different domains of validity. Here a simple mathematical theorem is proven which serves as the most general basis for the second law, namely the Thomson formulation (“cyclic changes cost energy”), applied to equilibrium. This formulation of the second law is a property akin to particle conservation (normalization of the wave function). It has been strictly proven for a canonical ensemble, and made plausible for a micro-canonical ensemble.

Keywords: Second law; Thomson formulation; Mathematical proof; Perpetual motion; Persistent currents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437101006057
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:305:y:2002:i:3:p:542-552

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(01)00605-7

Access Statistics for this article

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis

More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().