Brown, Harvey R. and Myrvold, Wayne (2008) Boltzmann's H-theorem, its limitations, and the birth of (fully) statistical mechanics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

A comparison is made of the traditional Loschmidt (reversibility) and Zermelo (recurrence) objections to Boltzmann's H-theorem, and its simplified variant in the Ehrenfests' 1912 wind-tree model. The little-cited 1896 (pre-recurrence) objection of Zermelo (similar to an 1889 argument due to Poincare) is also analysed. Significant differences between the objections are highlighted, and several old and modern misconceptions concerning both them and the H-theorem are clarified. We give particular emphasis to the radical nature of Poincare's and Zermelo's attack, and the importance of the shift in Boltzmann's thinking in response to the objections as a whole.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Brown, Harvey R. Myrvold, Wayne
Keywords:	Boltzmann, H-theorem, reversibility, recurrence, statistical mechanics, kinetic theory of gases, Loschmidt, Zermelo, Poincare
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User:	Prof Harvey R Brown
Date Deposited:	09 Sep 2008
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:17
Item ID:	4187
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date:	September 2008
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4187

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