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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
1.8  Internal Energy

 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  Thermodynamic Paths and Cycles
7.1  A Path Projected Onto State Space
7.1.1  State Functions
7.1.2  Out-of-State Functions
7.1.3  Converting Out-of-State Functions to State Functions
7.1.4  Reversibility and/or Uniqueness
7.1.5  The Importance of Out-of-State Functions
7.1.6  Heat Content, or Not
7.1.7  Some Mathematical Remarks
7.2  Grady and Ungrady One-Forms
7.3  Abuse of the Notation
7.4  Procedure for Extirpating dW and dQ
7.5  Some Reasons Why dW and dQ Might Be Tempting
7.6  Boundary versus Interior
7.7  The Carnot Cycle

 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  Relationship between Static Stability and Damping
9.7  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  What the Second Law Doesn’t Tell You
11.3  Phase Space
11.4  Entropy in a Crystal; Phonons, Electrons, and Spins
11.5  Entropy is Entropy
11.6  Spectator Entropy
11.7  No Secret Entropy, No Hidden Variables
11.8  Entropy is Context Dependent
11.9  Extreme Mixtures
11.9.1  Simple Model System
11.9.2  Two-Sample Model System
11.9.3  Helium versus Snow
11.9.4  Partial Information aka Weak Peek
11.10  Entropy is Not Necessarily Extensive
11.11  Mathematical Properties of the Entropy
11.11.1  Entropy Can Be Infinite

 12  Spontaneity, Reversibility, and Equilibrium
12.1  Fundamental Notions
12.1.1  Equilibrium
12.1.2  Stability
12.1.3  Irreversible by State or by Rate
12.1.4  Transformations, One-Dimensional or Otherwise
12.1.5  Conditionally Allowed and Unconditionally Disallowed
12.1.6  General Analysis
12.2  Example: Heat Transfer
12.3  Carnot Efficiency Formula
12.3.1  Definition of Heat Engine
12.3.2  Analysis
12.3.3  Discussion
12.4  Properties of the Equilibrium State
12.5  The Approach to Equilibrium
12.5.1  Non-Monotonic Case
12.5.2  Monotonic Case
12.5.3  Approximations and Misconceptions
12.6  Useful Proxies for Predicting Spontaneity, Reversibility, Equilibrium, etc.
12.6.1  Reduced Dimensionality
12.6.2  Constant V and T
12.6.3  Constant P and T
12.6.4  Externally Damped Oscillator: Constant S and Decoupled V
12.6.5  Lemma: Conservation of Enthalpy, Maybe
12.6.6  Local Conservation
12.7  Natural Variables, or Not
12.7.1  The “Big Four” Thermodynamic Potentials
12.7.2  A Counterexample: Heat Capacity
12.8  Going to Completion
12.9  Example: Shift of Equilibrium
12.10  Le Châtelier’s Principle, Or Not
12.11  Appendix: The Cyclic Triple Derivative Rule
12.11.1  Graphical Derivation
12.11.2  Validity is Based on Topology
12.11.3  Analytic Derivation
12.11.4  Independent and Dependent Variables, or Not
12.11.5  Axes, or Not
12.12  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

 15  Heat
15.1  Definitions
15.2  Idiomatic Expressions
15.3  Resolving or Avoiding the Ambiguities

 16  Work
16.1  Definitions
16.1.1  Integral versus Differential
16.1.2  Coarse Graining
16.1.3  Local versus Overall
16.2  Energy Flow versus Work
16.3  Remarks
16.4  Hidden Energy
16.5  Pseudowork

 17  Cramped versus Uncramped Thermodynamics
17.1  The Two Options
17.2  Vectors: Direction and Magnitude
17.3  Reversibility
17.4  Heat Content, or Not

 18  Ambiguous Terminology

 19  Thermodynamics, Restricted or Not

 20  The Relevance of Entropy

 21  Equilibrium, Equiprobability, Boltzmann Factors, and Temperature
21.1  Background and Preview
21.2  Example: N=1001
21.3  Example: N=1002
21.4  Example: N=4
21.5  Role Reversal: N=1002; TM versus Tµ
21.6  Example: Light Blue
21.7  Discussion
21.8  Relevance

 22  Partition Function
22.1  Basic Properties
22.2  Calculations Using the Partition Function
22.3  Example: Harmonic Oscillator
22.4  Example: Two-State System
22.5  Rescaling the Partition Function

 23  Equipartition
23.1  Generalized Equipartition Theorem
23.2  Corollaries: Power-Law Equipartition
23.3  Interpolating Harmonic Oscillator ↔ Particle in a Box
23.4  Remarks

 24  Partition Function: Some Examples
24.1  Preview: Single Particle in a Box
24.2  Ideal Gas of Point Particles
24.2.1  Distinguishable Particles
24.2.2  Indistinguishable Particles; Delabeling
24.2.3  Mixtures
24.2.4  Energy, Heat Capacity, and Entropy for a Pure Gas
24.2.5  Entropy of a Mixture
24.2.6  Extreme Mixtures
24.2.7  Entropy of the Deal
24.3  Rigid Rotor
24.4  Isentropic Processes
24.5  Polytropic Processes ⋯ Gamma etc.
24.6  Low Temperature
24.7  Degrees of Freedom, or Not
24.8  Discussion
24.9  Derivation: Particle in a Box
24.10  Area per State in Phase Space
24.10.1  Particle in a Box
24.10.2  Periodic Boundary Conditions
24.10.3  Non-Basis States

 25  Density Matrices

 26  Summary

 27  References
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Copyright © 2005 jsd