Is There a Unique Physical Entropy?: Micro Versus Macro
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Dennis Dieks [1]
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[1] Institute for History and Foundations of Science Utrecht, University Utrecht, The Netherlands
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- Localización: New challenges to philosophy of science / coord. por Hanne Andersen, Dennis Dieks, Wenceslao J. González Fernández, Thomas Uebel, Gregory Wheeler, 2013, ISBN 978-94-007-5844-5, págs. 23-34
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Entropy in thermodynamics is an extensive quantity, whereas standard methods in statistical mechanics give rise to a non-extensive expression for the entropy. This discrepancy is often seen as a sign that basic formulas of statistical mechanics should be revised, either on the basis of quantum mechanics or on the basis of general and fundamental considerations about the (in)distinguishability of particles. In this article we argue against this response. We show that both the extensive thermodynamic and the non-extensive statistical entropy are perfectly alright within their own fields of application. Changes in the statistical formulas that remove the discrepancy must be seen as motivated by pragmatic reasons (conventions) rather than as justified by basic arguments about particle statistics.
