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Copyright © 2005 jsd

Modern Thermodynamics
John Denker
 0  Introduction
0.1  Overview
0.2  Availability
0.3  Prerequisites, Goals, and Non-Goals

 1  Energy
1.1  Preliminary Remarks
1.2  Definition of Energy
1.3  More Remarks
1.4  Conservation of Energy
1.5  Energy versus “Capacity to do Work” or “Available Energy”
1.5.1  Best Case : Non-Thermal Situation
1.5.2  Equation versus Definition
1.5.3  General Case : Some Energy Not Available
1.6  Conflict with the Vernacular
1.7  Range of Validity

 2  Entropy
2.1  Paraconservation
2.2  Scenario: Cup Game
2.3  Scenario: Card Game
2.4  Peeking
2.5  Discussion
2.5.1  States and Probabilities
2.5.2  Entropy is Not Knowing
2.5.3  Entropy versus Energy
2.5.4  Entropy versus Disorder
2.5.5  False Dichotomy
2.6  Quantifying Entropy
2.7  Surprise Value
2.8  Entropy of Independent Subsystems

 3  Basic Concepts (Zeroth Law)

 4  Low-Temperature Entropy (Alleged Third Law)

 5  The Rest of Physics, Chemistry, etc.

 6  Functions of State
6.1  Functions of State : Basic Notions
6.2  Path Independence
6.3  Hess’s Law, Or Not
6.4  Partial Derivatives
6.5  Heat Capacities, Energy Capacity, and Enthalpy Capacity
6.6  Yet More Partial Derivatives
6.7  Integration
6.8  Advection
6.9  Deciding What’s True
6.10  Deciding What’s Fundamental

 7  The W + Q Equation
7.1  Grady and Ungrady One-Forms
7.2  Abuse of the Notation
7.3  Procedure for Extirpating dW and dQ
7.4  Some Reasons Why dW and dQ Might Be Tempting

 8  Connecting Entropy with Energy
8.1  The Boltzmann Distribution
8.2  Locrian and Non-Locrian
8.3  An Illustration : Flywheels, Springs, and Batteries
8.4  Remarks
8.4.1  Predictable Energy is Freely Convertible; Random Energy is Not
8.4.2  Thermodynamic Laws without Temperature
8.4.3  Kinetic and Potential Microscopic Energy
8.4.4  Ideal Gas : Potential Energy as well as Kinetic Energy
8.4.5  Relative Motion versus “Thermal” Energy
8.5  Entropy Without Constant Re-Shuffling
8.6  Units of Entropy
8.7  Probability versus Multiplicity
8.7.1  Exactly Equiprobable
8.7.2  Approximately Equiprobable
8.7.3  Not At All Equiprobable
8.8  Discussion
8.9  Misconceptions about Spreading
8.10  Spreading in Probability Space

 9  Additional Fundamental Notions
9.1  Equilibrium
9.2  Non-Equilibrium; Timescales
9.3  Efficiency; Timescales
9.4  Spontaneity and Irreversibility
9.5  Stability
9.6  Finite Size Effects

 10  Experimental Basis
10.1  Basic Notions of Temperature and Equilibrium
10.2  Exponential Dependence on Energy
10.3  Metastable Systems with a Temperature
10.4  Metastable Systems without a Temperature
10.5  Dissipative Systems
10.5.1  Sudden Piston : Sound
10.5.2  Sudden Piston : State Transitions
10.5.3  Rumford’s Experiment
10.5.4  Flywheels with Oil Bearing
10.5.5  Misconceptions : Heat
10.5.6  Misconceptions : Work
10.5.7  Remarks
10.6  The Gibbs Gedankenexperiment
10.7  Spin Echo Experiment
10.8  Melting
10.9  Isentropic Expansion and Compression
10.10  Demagnetization Refrigerator
10.11  Thermal Insulation

 11  More About Entropy
11.1  Microstate versus Macrostate
11.2  Phase Space
11.3  Entropy in a Crystal; Phonons, Electrons, and Spins
11.4  Entropy is Entropy
11.5  Spectator Entropy
11.6  No Secret Entropy, No Hidden Variables
11.7  Entropy is Context Dependent
11.8  Extreme Mixtures
11.8.1  Simple Model System
11.8.2  Two-Sample Model System
11.8.3  Helium versus Snow
11.8.4  Partial Information aka Weak Peek
11.9  Entropy is Not Necessarily Extensive

 12  Spontaneity, Reversibility, and Equilibrium
12.1  Fundamental Notions
12.1.1  Irreversible by State or by Rate
12.1.2  Transformations, One-Dimensional or Otherwise
12.1.3  Conditionally Allowed and Unconditionally Disallowed
12.1.4  General Analysis
12.2  Properties of the Equilibrium State
12.3  Useful Proxies for Predicting Spontaneity, Reversibility, Equilibrium, etc.
12.3.1  Reduced Dimensionality
12.3.2  Constant V and T
12.3.3  Constant P and T
12.3.4  Externally Damped Oscillator: Constant S and Decoupled V
12.3.5  Lemma: Conservation of Enthalpy, Maybe
12.3.6  Local Conservation
12.4  Natural Variables, or Not
12.4.1  The “Big Four” Thermodynamic Potentials
12.4.2  A Counterexample: Heat Capacity
12.5  Going to Completion
12.6  Example: Shift of Equilibrium
12.7  Tangential Remarks
12.8  Appendix: The Cyclic Triple Derivative Rule
12.8.1  Graphical Derivation
12.8.2  Validity is Based on Topology
12.8.3  Analytic Derivation
12.8.4  Independent and Dependent Variables, or Not
12.8.5  Axes, or Not
12.9  Entropy versus “Irreversibility” in Chemistry

 13  The “Big Four” Energy-Like State Functions
13.1  Energy
13.2  Enthalpy
13.3  Free Energy
13.4  Free Enthalpy
13.5  Thermodynamically Available Energy – Or Not
13.5.1  overview
13.5.2  A Calculation
13.6  Relationships among E, F, G, and H
13.7  Yet More Transformations

 14  Adiabatic Processes
14.1  Internal Energy

 15  Boundary versus Interior

 16  Heat
16.1  Definitions
16.2  Idiomatic Expressions
16.3  Resolving or Avoiding the Ambiguities

 17  Work
17.1  Definitions
17.1.1  Integral versus Differential
17.1.2  Coarse Graining
17.1.3  Local versus Overall
17.2  Energy Flow versus Work
17.3  Remarks
17.4  Hidden Energy
17.5  Pseudowork

 18  Cramped versus Uncramped Thermodynamics

 19  Ambiguous Terminology

 20  Thermodynamics, Restricted or Not

 21  The Relevance of Entropy

 22  Equilibrium, Equiprobability, Boltzmann Factors, and Temperature
22.1  Background and Preview
22.2  Example: N=1001
22.3  Example: N=1002
22.4  Example: N=4
22.5  Role Reversal: N=1002; TM versus Tµ
22.6  Example: Light Blue
22.7  Discussion
22.8  Relevance

 23  Partition Function
23.1  Basic Properties
23.2  Calculations Using the Partition Function
23.3  Example: Harmonic Oscillator
23.4  Example: Two-State System
23.5  Rescaling the Partition Function

 24  Equipartition
24.1  Generalized Equipartition Theorem
24.2  Corollaries: Power-Law Equipartition
24.3  Interpolating Harmonic Oscillator ↔ Particle in a Box
24.4  Remarks

 25  Partition Function for Particle(s) in a Box
25.1  Preview: Single Particle in a Box
25.2  Ideal Gas
25.2.1  Distinguishable Particles
25.2.2  Indistinguishable Particles; Delabeling
25.2.3  Mixtures
25.2.4  Energy, Heat Capacity, and Entropy for a Pure Gas
25.2.5  Entropy of a Mixture
25.2.6  Extreme Mixtures
25.2.7  Entropy of the Deal
25.3  Isentropic Processes
25.4  Polytropic Processes ⋯ Gamma etc.
25.5  Low Temperature
25.6  Degrees of Freedom, or Not
25.7  Discussion
25.8  Derivation: Particle in a Box
25.9  Area per State in Phase Space
25.9.1  Particle in a Box
25.9.2  Periodic Boundary Conditions
25.9.3  Non-Basis States

 26  Density Matrices

 27  Summary

 28  References
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Copyright © 2005 jsd

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