Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 3: Complex and Open Systems

AGPhil 3.2: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 10:15–11:00, H 2033

On the relation between the second law of thermodynamics, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics — •Barbara Drossel — Institut für Festkörperphysik, TU Darmstadt

In textbooks on statistical mechanics, on finds often arguments based on classical mechanics, phase space and ergodicity in order to justify the second law of thermodynamics. However, the basic equations of motion of classical mechanics are deterministic and reversible, while the second law of thermodynamics is irreversible and not deterministic, because it states that a system forgets its past when approaching equilibrium. I will argue that all "derivations" of the second law of thermodynamics from classical mechanics include additional assumptions that are not part of classical mechanics. The same holds for Boltzmanns H-theorem. Furthermore, I will argue that the coarse-graining of phase-space that is used when deriving the second law cannot be viewed as an expression of our ignorance of the details of the microscopic state of the system, but reflects the fact that the state of a system is fully specified by using only a finite number of bits, as implied by the concept of entropy, which is related to the number of different microstates that a closed system can have. While quantum mechanics, as described by the Schroedinger equation, puts this latter statement on a firm ground, it cannot explain the irreversibility and stochasticity inherent in the second law.