Werndl, Charlotte and Frigg, Roman (2014) Rethinking Boltzmannian Equilibrium. In: UNSPECIFIED.

Preview

PDF EquilibriumFinal.pdf Download (306kB)

Abstract

Boltzmannian statistical mechanics partitions the phase space into macro- regions, and the largest of these is identified with equilibrium.
What justifies this identification? Common answers focus on Boltzmann's combinatorial argument, the Maxwell-Boltzmann
distribution, and maximum entropy considerations. We argue that they fail and present a new answer. We characterise
equilibrium as the macrostate in which the system spends most of its time and prove a new theorem establishing that equilibrium thus defined corresponds to the largest macroregion. Our derivation is completely general in that it does not rely on assumptions about the system's dynamics or internal interactions.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Werndl, Charlotte c.s.werndl@lse.ac.uk Frigg, Roman r.p.frigg@lse.ac.uk
Additional Information:	Forthcoming in: Philosophy of Science
Keywords:	statistical mechanics, Boltzmann, equilibrium, approach to equilibrium, thermodynamic-like behaviour
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User:	Charlotte Werndl
Date Deposited:	18 Jun 2014 14:39
Last Modified:	18 Jun 2014 14:39
Item ID:	10756
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date:	2014
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10756

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item