Authors |
|
Abstract |
I explore the reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics by treating the former as a control theory: a theory of which transitions between states can be induced on a system by means of operations from a fixed list. I recover the results of standard thermodynamics in this framework on the assumption that the available operations do not include measurements which affect subsequent choices of operations. I then relax this assumption and use the framework to consider the vexed questions of Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle. Throughout I assume rather than prove the basic irreversibility features of statistical mechanics, taking care to distinguish them from the conceptually distinct assumptions of thermodynamics proper.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Notes on Landauer's Principle, Reversible Computation, and Maxwell's Demon.Charles H. Bennett - 2003 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 34 (3):501-510.
The (Absence of a) Relationship Between Thermodynamic and Logical Reversibility.O. J. E. Maroney - 2005 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36 (2):355-374.
Exorcist XIV: The Wrath of Maxwell’s Demon. Part II. From Szilard to Landauer and Beyond.John Earman & John D. Norton - 1999 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 30 (1):1-40.
The End of the Thermodynamics of Computation: A No Go Result.John D. Norton - 2013 - Philosophy of Science 80 (5):1182-1192.
View all 6 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Case for Black Hole Thermodynamics Part I: Phenomenological Thermodynamics.David Wallace - 2018 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 64:52-67.
The Problem of Equilibrium Processes in Thermodynamics.David A. Lavis - 2018 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 62:136-144.
Information Causality, the Tsirelson Bound, and the ‘Being-Thus’ of Things.Michael E. Cuffaro - 2020 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 72:266-277.
View all 8 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Time, Chance and Reduction: Philosophical Aspects of Statistical Mechanics.Gerhard Ernst & Andreas Hüttemann (eds.) - 2010 - Cambridge University Press.
Time in Thermodynamics.Jill North - 2011 - In Criag Callender (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Time. Oxford University Press. pp. 312--350.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Foundations and Status. [REVIEW]D. P. Sheehan - 2007 - Foundations of Physics 37 (12):1653-1658.
Remarks on the Direction of Time in Quantum Mechanics.Meir Hemmo - 2003 - Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1458-1471.
Reducing Thermodynamics to Statistical Mechanics: The Case of Entropy.Craig Callender - 1999 - Journal of Philosophy 96 (7):348-373.
Einstein and Relativistic Thermodynamics in 1952: A Historical and Critical Study of a Strange Episode in the History of Modern Physics.Chuang Liu - 1992 - British Journal for the History of Science 25 (2):185-206.
Reduction of Thermodynamics: A Few Problems.Sang Wook Yi - 2003 - Philosophy of Science 70 (5):1028-1038.
Hot and Heavy Matters in the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics.Craig Callender - 2011 - Foundations of Physics 41 (6):960-981.
Chance in Boltzmannian Statistical Mechanics.Roman Frigg - 2008 - Philosophy of Science 75 (5):670-681.
Thermodynamics of Self-Gravitating Systems.Joseph Katz - 2003 - Foundations of Physics 33 (2):223-269.
Scarcity's Ways the Origins of Capital : A Critical Essay on Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Economics.Michael S. Macrakis - 1997
Introduction to the Philosophy of Statistical Mechanics: Can Probability Explain the Arrow of Time in the Second Law of Thermodynamics?Meir Hemmo Orly Shenker - 2011 - Philosophy Compass 6 (9):640-651.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2015-09-07
Total views
29 ( #355,293 of 2,403,894 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #550,507 of 2,403,894 )
2015-09-07
Total views
29 ( #355,293 of 2,403,894 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #550,507 of 2,403,894 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads