The zeroth law of thermodynamics

Alberto Frigerio, Vittorio Gorini and Maurizio Verri

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1986, vol. 137, issue 3, 573-602

Abstract: We discuss a convenient formulation of the most intuitive property of equilibrium, the zeroth law of thermodynamics, in terms of conditions of dynamical stability for a system which may interact (weakly) with its surroundings. This allows us to provide a completely rigorous, though elementary, justification of the Gibbs canonical ensemble as the description of thermodynamical equilibrium for a spatially confined quantum system with a fixed, finite number of particles. For quantum systems with variable particle numbers, the same kind of assumptions leads to the grand-canonical ensemble.

Date: 1986
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:137:y:1986:i:3:p:573-602

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(86)90095-6

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