Information Loss as a Foundational Principle for the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Details Information Loss as a Foundational Principle for the Second Law of Thermodynamics Information Loss as a Foundational Principle for the Second Law of Thermodynamics

2007-03-09

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0703235v1

Foundations of Physics (2007) 37: 1767-1773

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

To appear in Foundations of Physics

Scientific paper

10.1007/s10701-007-9159-z

In a previous paper [1] we considered the question, "What underlying property of nature is responsible for the second law?" A simple answer can be stated in terms of information: The fundamental loss of information gives rise to the second law. This line of thinking highlights the existence of two independent but coupled sets of laws: Information dynamics and energy dynamics. The distinction helps shed light on certain foundational questions in statistical mechanics. For example, the confusion surrounding previous "derivations" of the second law from energy dynamics can be resolved by noting that such derivations incorporate one or more assumptions that correspond to the loss of information. In this paper we further develop and explore the perspective in which the second law is fundamentally a law of information dynamics.

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