Reconsidering the concept of equilibrium in classical statistical mechanics

Author:
Drs Janneke van Lith, Institute for History and Foundations of Science, Utrecht University (NL).
Date:
October 1998
Published in:
Philosophy of Science 66 (Proceedings) (1999) S107-S118.

This article is available as a gzipped PostScript file.


In the usual procedure of deriving equilibrium thermodynamics from classical statistical mechanics, Gibbsian fine-grained entropy is taken as the analog of thermodynamical entropy. However, it is well known that the fine-grained entropy remains constant under the Hamiltonian flow. In this paper it is argued that we needn't search for alternatives for fine-grained entropy, nor do we have to give up Hamiltonian dynamics, in order to solve the problem of the constancy of fine-grained entropy and, more generally, account for the non-equilibrium part of the laws of thermodynamics. Rather, we have to weaken the requirement that equilibrium be identified with a stationary probability distribution.


Last updated: Friday, 30-Jun-2000 15:08:00 CEST