Jha, Aditya (2025) Thermodynamics of small systems: A case for stochastic thermodynamics at strong coupling. UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

I argue that extending thermodynamics to small systems exposes background assumptions that are largely invisible in its traditional macroscopic domain. Using mesoscopic stochastic thermodynamics, I examine the underappreciated weak-coupling idealization—negligible system–environment interaction—which normally secures an unambiguous split between heat and work. Drawing on a current debate (Talkner & Hänggi 2016; Seifert 2016; Jarzynski 2017), I show that in the strong-coupling regime this demarcation becomes partly conventional and renders heat especially ambiguous. The key reason is that work is then defined via the Hamiltonian of Mean Force for an effective system, rather than by changes in the system’s bare Hamiltonian, which generally differs from the HMF. I then assess contrasting philosophical responses amongst physicists concerning this (dis)ambiguation—essentialism versus functionalism—found respectively in Pucci et al. (2013), Cohen & Mauzerall (2004), Talkner & Hänggi (2016, 2020), and in Jarzynski (2007, 2017) and Seifert (2016).

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Item Type:	Other
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Jha, Aditya aditya9835@gmail.com 0000-0002-1147-5752
Additional Information:	This is a draft. Please do not cite.
Keywords:	Thermodynamics, stochastic processes, irreversibility, heat-work distinction, essentialism, functionalism
Subjects:	General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User:	Dr Aditya Jha
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2026 12:19
Last Modified:	17 Jan 2026 12:19
Item ID:	27934
Subjects:	General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Probability/Statistics Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date:	15 December 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/27934

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