The use of the information-theoretic entropy in thermodynamics

@article{citeulike:2801047, abstract = {When considering controversial thermodynamic scenarios such as Maxwell's demon, it is often necessary to consider probabilistic mixtures of macrostates. This raises the question of how, if at all, to assign entropy to them. The information-theoretic entropy is often used in such cases; however, no general proof of the soundness of doing so has been given, and indeed some arguments against doing so have been presented. We offer a general proof of the applicability of the information-theoretic entropy to probabilistic mixtures of macrostates that is based upon a probabilistic generalisation of the Kelvin statement of the second law. We defend the latter and make clear the other assumptions on which our main result depends. We also briefly discuss the interpretation of our result.}, author = {Ladyman, James and Presnell, Stuart and Short, Anthony J. }, citeulike-article-id = {2801047}, doi = {10.1016/j.shpsb.2007.11.004}, journal = {Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics}, keywords = {philosophy, philsci, physics, statmech, thermodynamics}, month = {May}, number = {2}, pages = {315--324}, posted-at = {2008-05-15 09:48:33}, priority = {2}, title = {The use of the information-theoretic entropy in thermodynamics}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2007.11.004}, volume = {39}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2801047 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2801047 TI - The use of the information-theoretic entropy in thermodynamics JF - Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics VL - 39 IS - 2 SP - 315 EP - 324 N2 - When considering controversial thermodynamic scenarios such as Maxwell's demon, it is often necessary to consider probabilistic mixtures of macrostates. This raises the question of how, if at all, to assign entropy to them. The information-theoretic entropy is often used in such cases; however, no general proof of the soundness of doing so has been given, and indeed some arguments against doing so have been presented. We offer a general proof of the applicability of the information-theoretic entropy to probabilistic mixtures of macrostates that is based upon a probabilistic generalisation of the Kelvin statement of the second law. We defend the latter and make clear the other assumptions on which our main result depends. We also briefly discuss the interpretation of our result. KW - philosophy KW - philsci KW - physics KW - statmech KW - thermodynamics AU - Ladyman, James AU - Presnell, Stuart AU - Short, Anthony PY - 2008/05// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2007.11.004 ER -