Ebook: Challenges to the Second Law of Thermodynamics: Theory and Experiment
- Genre: Mathematics
- Tags: Physics general, Philosophy of Science, Statistical Physics, Quantum Optics Quantum Electronics Nonlinear Optics
- Series: Fundamental Theories of Physics 146
- Year: 2005
- Publisher: Springer Netherlands
- City: Dordrecht ; Boston
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- pdf
The second law of thermodynamics is considered one of the central laws of science, engineering and technology. For over a century it has been assumed to be inviolable by the scientific community. Over the last 10-20 years, however, more than two dozen challenges to it have appeared in the physical literature - more than during any other period in its 150-year history. The number and variety of these represent a cogent threat to its absolute status. This is the first book to document and critique these modern challenges. Written by two leading exponents of this rapidly emerging field, it covers the theoretical and experimental aspects of principal challenges. In addition, unresolved foundational issues concerning entropy and the second law are explored. This book should be of interest to anyone whose work or research is touched by the second law.
The second law of thermodynamics is considered one of the central laws of science, engineering and technology. For over a century it has been assumed to be inviolable by the scientific community. Over the last 10-20 years, however, more than two dozen challenges to it have appeared in the physical literature - more than during any other period in its 150-year history. The number and variety of these represent a cogent threat to its absolute status. This is the first book to document and critique these modern challenges. Written by two leading exponents of this rapidly emerging field, it covers the theoretical and experimental aspects of principal challenges. In addition, unresolved foundational issues concerning entropy and the second law are explored. This book should be of interest to anyone whose work or research is touched by the second law.
Clifford Algebras continues to be a fast-growing discipline, with ever-increasing applications in many scientific fields. This volume contains the lectures given at the Fourth Conference on Clifford Algebras and their Applications in Mathematical Physics, held at RWTH Aachen in May 1996. The papers represent an excellent survey of the newest developments around Clifford Analysis and its applications to theoretical physics. Audience: This book should appeal to physicists and mathematicians working in areas involving functions of complex variables, associative rings and algebras, integral transforms, operational calculus, partial differential equations, and the mathematics of physics.