The Origins of Time-Asymmetry in Thermodynamics: The Minus First Law

Harvey R. Brown; Jos Uffink

doi:10.1016/S1355-2198(01)00021-1

The Origins of Time-Asymmetry in Thermodynamics: The Minus First Law

Harvey R. Brown, Jos Uffink

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

82 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper investigates what the source of time asymmetry is in thermodynamics, and comments on the question whether a time-symmetric formulation of the Second Law is possible.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	525-538
Number of pages	14
Journal	Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
Volume	32
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S1355-2198(01)00021-1
State	Published - Dec 2001
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful to Yemima Ben-Menahem and Itamar Pitowsky for their kind invitation to and hospitality during the May 2000 International Workshop in Jerusalem. We also thank Julian Barbour for providing the 1897a Boltzmann reference, and Jeremy Butterfield for detailed suggestions towards improving presentation. HRB thanks Michael Lockwood for useful discussions, and gratefully acknowledges the support of the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.

Keywords

Entropy
Second law
Statistical mechanics
Thermodynamics

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10.1016/S1355-2198(01)00021-1

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abstract = "This paper investigates what the source of time asymmetry is in thermodynamics, and comments on the question whether a time-symmetric formulation of the Second Law is possible.",

keywords = "Entropy, Second law, Statistical mechanics, Thermodynamics",

author = "Brown, {Harvey R.} and Jos Uffink",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to Yemima Ben-Menahem and Itamar Pitowsky for their kind invitation to and hospitality during the May 2000 International Workshop in Jerusalem. We also thank Julian Barbour for providing the 1897a Boltzmann reference, and Jeremy Butterfield for detailed suggestions towards improving presentation. HRB thanks Michael Lockwood for useful discussions, and gratefully acknowledges the support of the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.",

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AU - Uffink, Jos

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AB - This paper investigates what the source of time asymmetry is in thermodynamics, and comments on the question whether a time-symmetric formulation of the Second Law is possible.

KW - Entropy

KW - Second law

KW - Statistical mechanics

KW - Thermodynamics

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ER -

The Origins of Time-Asymmetry in Thermodynamics: The Minus First Law

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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