Stars and steam engines: To what extent do thermodynamics and statistical mechanics apply to self-gravitating systems?
Foundational puzzles surround (Newtonian) gravitational thermal physics—a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes (such as the col...
| Published in: | Synthese Vol. 196; no. 5; pp. 1783 - 1809 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer Nature
May2019
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=136187058&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 136187058 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2019 vid: 196 iid: 5 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 136187058 10.1007/s11229-018-02032-5 ppf: 1783 ppct: 26 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 765KB tig: atl: Stars and steam engines: To what extent do thermodynamics and statistical mechanics apply to self-gravitating systems? aug: au: Robertson, Katie affil: Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, Birmingham, UK su: Statistical mechanics Thermodynamics Physics Newton, Isaac, 1642-1727 Steam engines sug: subj: Statistical mechanics Thermodynamics Physics Newton, Isaac, 1642-1727 Steam engines keyword: Reduction Self-gravitating systems The thermodynamic limit ab: Foundational puzzles surround (Newtonian) gravitational thermal physics—a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes (such as the collisionless Boltzmann equation) and paradoxical features (such as the 'gravothermal catastrophe'). Callender (Found Phys 41(6):960–981, 2011) advocates reconciling the two sides of the dispute by taking a broader view of thermodynamics. Here I argue for an alternative position: if we are careful in distinguishing statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, then no reconciliation is required. Both sides can live in harmony because whilst statistical mechanics applies, thermodynamics does not. This state of affairs—the applicability of statistical mechanics without the emergence of thermodynamic behaviour—can be explained in terms of an infamous infinite idealisation: the thermodynamic limit. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2019. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2019 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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